New York Knicks captain Jalen Brunson has confirmed he is fully cleared following offseason surgery on his left wrist.
Brunson delivered the update during a live edition of The Roommates Show on Thursday night, telling the crowd he had received medical clearance and confirming he can play five-on-five.
The reigning NBA Finals MVP underwent surgery in July to repair a tendon issue in his left shooting wrist after playing through the injury during New York's championship run.
Brunson had been expected to be available without restrictions when training camp begins, but his announcement provides direct confirmation that his rehabilitation has been completed in time for camp.
The Knicks will now begin preparations for their championship defence with their captain medically cleared.
Lean Edge Thoughts...
These were probably enough for the Knicks.
"I'm fully cleared."
After an offseason in which Jalen Brunson spent weeks recovering from surgery on his shooting wrist, New York can enter training camp with the biggest health question surrounding its championship core answered.
And there is something fitting about the fact that Brunson needed surgery at all.
We now know that the wrist problem was significant enough to require a procedure once the season ended.
Before that, Brunson simply played through it.
He carried the injury through a postseason in which New York finally ended a 53-year championship drought and finished that run as NBA Finals MVP.
That context makes his recovery more important than an ordinary September medical update.
The Knicks aren't waiting to discover whether their best player will be available sometime during the opening months of the season.
He says he can play five-on-five now.
That changes the beginning of New York's title defence.
Training camp can be about basketball rather than rehabilitation.
Mike Brown can work with the lineup he expects to use rather than designing around the temporary absence of his point guard.
And Brunson can spend the remaining weeks before opening night rebuilding rhythm rather than waiting for medical permission to participate.
There is still a sensible argument for caution.
Brunson has just completed the longest season of his career, played through an injury and spent much of his summer rehabilitating from surgery.
Being cleared doesn't mean New York needs him playing heavy preseason minutes.
Quite the opposite.
The Knicks have already learned what Brunson is prepared to put his body through when the games matter.
September is not the time to ask him to prove it again.
What matters is that the surgery appears to have done what it needed to do.
Brunson enters the new season as an NBA champion, Finals MVP and the central figure in a Knicks team that is no longer chasing the summit.
Now it has to defend it.
And the player who drove New York there is ready to begin.
LEAN EDGE VERDICT
The best injury update is the one that stops being an injury story.
That's where Jalen Brunson appears to be now.
There was already optimism that he would be ready for training camp. His own confirmation removes the remaining uncertainty.
For the Knicks, that means one less complication as the championship defence begins.
For Brunson, it means the wrist that survived an entire title run can finally become something he doesn't have to think about.
New York doesn't need its Finals MVP proving anything in preseason.
It just needs him healthy when the games start counting again.
