New York will remain a democratic republic under Jalen Brunson’s watch.

The New York Knicks’ franchise face formally rejected the “King of New York” moniker during a recent appearance on the “Road Trippin’ Show,” abdicating a throne many were willing to grant him after guiding Manhattan to NBA immortality back in June.

“I’ve never called myself the King of New York,” Brunson told host Allie Clifton and fellow NBA champions Channing Frye, Richard Jefferson, and Kendrick Perkins. “I will never call myself the King of New York.”

“For me to call myself that, I feel like that’s obviously it’s ‘eh’ and to say things like that … like just imagine I get on this call with you, right? I’m like, ‘Yo, you know, King of New York’s here,'” Brunson continued. “You guys are going to look like, ‘What the f***, this dude is so self-centered.’ No, I just find a way to kind of be the same because of the people around me.”

In a “Dune”-style conundrum, Brunson’s insistence that he not be granted royal status will likely only convince his followers that he’s worthy of such recognition.

With his selfless nature in mind, Brunson was challenged by Perkins to turn the 2026-27 season into an All-Star campaign for OG Anunoby, one of the many metropolitan heroes who rose to the occasion during the Knicks’ legacy-making postseason journey.

Leading the Knicks’ title run in June was the culmination of Brunson piloting Manhattan’s return to championship glory and likely cemented his spot in the borough’s all-time hardwood hierarchy.

Brunson was named the MVP of the Knicks’ five-game Finals win over the San Antonio Spurs, capping things off with 45 points in the victorious finale.

But Brunson warned his adoring public that he had had enough of title talk, reasoning that the mental slate must be fully wiped clean if the Knicks are to become the first repeat NBA champions since the 2017-18 Golden State Warriors.

Brunson even hinted that the same people willing to crown him in June were planning a mutiny in January, when the Knicks dropped nine of eleven at the top of the new calendar year.

“We have all these people telling us how great we are. We won in New York, and everyone in New York is up on their high horse,” Brunson said. “Everyone’s saying the best things about us, even though in the middle of the year they were probably saying the worst as well, when we were 2-9.

“It was definitely like a roller coaster of a ride, but it’s important for us to come into the season and be like, ‘All right, that’s over with.’ We don’t want to speak of the trophy, we don’t want to talk about the trophy, and we don’t want to see the trophy, right? We want to come in with the same mindset, if not an even tougher mindset than we had last year.”