Jalen Brunson delivers a Knicks forever moment that won’t soon be forgotten

DETROIT — There will come a time, years from now, when Jalen Brunson will be paunchier, and grayer, and he’ll be given the best seat in the house at Madison Square Garden on big playoff nights. Patrick Ewing has one of those seats now. So does the Senator, Bill Bradley. John Starks, Latrell Sprewell. Earl the Pearl.

Those forever Knicks are duly honored every time they appear on the video board. The joint goes bananas. Mike Walczewski, the P.A. man, invariably yells “Once a Knick, always a Knick!” and it gets even louder, and the old ballplayers mouth “Let’s go Knicks!” into the camera.

Once in a while, the camera finds Clyde Frazier, and it feels like the walls are going to collapse. It’s been almost 50 years since Clyde played his last game as a Knick, and in a week it’ll be 55 years since he dropped 36 points and 19 assists and seven rebounds on the Lakers in Game 7. It’s always extra loud for Clyde.

That’s what Brunson has to look forward to 15, 20 years from now. Knicks fans remember. And they will undoubtedly remember this one, this remarkable escape, when Brunson scored 40 points and handed out seven assists to finally force the Detroit Pistons to tap out — and those numbers were only part of the story.