An up-and-down start to the year has New York Knicks fans wondering “How much Jordan Clarkson is too much?”

The 13th year guard has been a godsend at times for a team who’s felt uninspired to start the year. And he’s doing it in the ways we’ve only seen him do in a Knicks jersey.

Much has been made of Clarkson’s renaissance upon arrival in New York. But perhaps not enough.

Clarkson 2.0

Inspired, I went back and watched Clarkson’s first media availability after signing with the Knicks. One line in particular stands out in hindsight:

“They’re playing for something.”

If I had a nickel for every time a new player gave the same cliche answer for joining a contender…let’s just say writing this article isn’t how I’d be spending my Wednesday.

But then he was asked about balancing his microwave scorer mentality on a team and in a situation with higher stakes.

Clarkson foreshadowed his future.

“You know, I’m gonna make my changes, do whatever I gotta do to fit in here, and play the right way,” he told James Edwards III of The Athletic.

Because before joining the Knicks, Clarkson averaged 10 or more points and 10 or more field goal attempts per game in 10 straight seasons. Head coach Will Hardy of the Utah Jazz would sub him in, give him the ball, and tell him to do his worst.

It looked like a lot of this:

Since, he’s averaging 8.4 points on 7.1 shots with New York. Last season marked career-highs in both offensive and defensive rebounding percentages.

It was also the first time in his career where the percentage of his makes that were assisted was over 50%: less shot creation, more following the team’s shot charts.

Brown: Clarkson is “ultimate pro”

Head coach Mike Brown made headlines Monday when he called Clarkson the best teammate he’s ever been around:

“You have a veteran that’s been there, done that,” Brown told reporters November 2. ” And he’s willing to accept the role that most guys wouldn’t accept, even guys younger that haven’t proved as much as he’s proven in this league. And he’s willing to accept it.” So, in my opinion, if he’s willing to accept it, which is what he did last year, and still try to uplift everybody, connect everybody while he’s going through what he’s going through, then everybody else should. That’s that’s the ultimate team player, I will say this about JC. I’ve been around some good teammates. He’s got to be the best. He is the definition of ultimate pro.”

New York entered the fourth quarter on Monday down 79-75 to the Brooklyn Nets, before going on a 28-11 run to close the game. Clarkson was apart of the five-man unit that opened that fourth quarter.

He scored five of his seven points on the night during that run.

According to my good friend Max Wildstein, Monday night marked the 11th-straight game in which New York has won their minutes with Clarkson on the floor.

Monday night also came on the heels of his latest and greatest microwave moment: an 18-point, 17-minute effort in a comeback win over the Chicago Bulls:

According to Fadeaway, the Knicks are +46.3 and scoring 135.6 points per 100 possessions with Clarkson on the floor this season. That’s only a 54-minute sample size, but it’s election season, and I’m propagandising.

Those numbers are ludicrous, unsustainable, and yet, everything we love about the Clarkson experience: offensive rebounding, second chance points, and truth be told an insensible summarization centered on a player who defies reason.

But don’t just take it from me. Indulge a jury of Clarkson’s peers.

Inside the locker room

“The guy just wants to win,” Landry Shamet told The Athletic. “He wants to do whatever he can for this group, his teammates. He’ll play a stint out there for two minutes and get subbed out. A lot of guys in the NBA, the reality is, if they get subbed, they’re pissed. The whole thing. He never has any of those moments.”

“I think it shows his character more than anything else. He’s someone that if he was on a different team, he could play 20, 25 minutes every night. He could score double digits. He could be that spark, that microwave off the bench. And he’s here,” Josh Hart told SNY’s Ian Begley. “He was willing to sacrifice and take a smaller role, be a part of something bigger than himself. So it shows its character.

“He has a professionalism about him,” Jalen Brunson told reporters on November 3. “It’s definitely not easy, but for a person who’s willing to do that, he makes our team better. It’s just who he is, he’s a great person, a great teammate.”

The cascading effects of having a guy like Clarkson, whose peers view in such high regard, accepting a minimal, undefined role cannot be overstated.

New York’s culture may start with Brunson, but it’s bookended by Clarkson. The willingness, adaptability, and overall professionalism embody everything Mike Brown wants the Knicks to be.

British-American writer and orator Alan Watts once said that “the only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.”

Jordan Clarkson didn’t envision going into a glass case, only broken into for emergency when he signed with the New York Knicks.

Still, he took his role head on, moved with the ups and downs in playing time, and danced all the way to New York’s City Hall with the Larry O’Brien trophy in tow.

But that was last season. It’s a new year, and with it, the Knicks have been presented with new challenges. It’s familiar territory for Clarkson. And he’s leading the way for New York in the only way he knows how to.