Who Is The King of New York Sports?

For better and sometimes for worse, being a professional athlete in New York comes with an astounding amount of pressure. Some people hate that; others thrive on it. Would-be stars who arrive with savior-like expectations and wilt are reviled instantly, while those that can meet the challenge end up getting pets across the city named after them. 

With apologies to all the aging Big Apple bulldogs named Jeter or Eli, and all the dudes at the park still hitting the Melo “three to the dome” celebration, this is a new era. All four of NYC’s basketball and hockey teams are currently in the playoffs—five if you extend into Newark and include the Devils—while the Yankees and Mets look likely to qualify for the playoffs in consecutive years for the first time since 1999-2000. Things are hot, and with a WNBA superteam in Brooklyn waiting for their season to start in late-May, the scene is about to get even more invigorating.

We’ve taken it upon ourselves to name the King of New York, as well as nine other people who are gunning for the throne. We’ll be updating the list all year long, so make sure to check back in and see who’s on top.

10. Daniel Jones

Team: New York Giants

Position: Quarterback

NEW YORK FACTOID: He’s honestly pretty boring, but in 2019 he celebrated a Giants’ win by throwing napkins all over a Hoboken bar and cheating in a game of flip cup with Eli Manning.

Eighty-two million dollars of guaranteed money can get you a lot, including a place in the King of New York discussion. The jury is still out on whether Jones is, umm, good, but he got the Giants to the playoffs and is poised to be their QB1 for the next few years—two things that his green-and-white neighbors can’t say about themselves. 

9. Igor Shesterkin

Team: New York Rangers

Position: Goaltender

NEW YORK FACTOID: He and his girlfriend run an Instagram account for their dog, Simba.

Hockey doesn’t move the needle across the five boroughs like the other big three sports, but the diehards love their Rangers, and especially the guy who serves as their last line of defense. Shesterkin is one of the best goalies in the league—a title he took seamlessly from Henrik Lundqvist, the guy he replaced in New York’s net—and one of the main reasons the Blueshirts have Stanley Cup aspirations. 

8. Pete Alonso

Team: New York Mets

Position: First Base

NEW YORK FACTOID: Earlier this year he debuted some I LOVE NY batting gloves.

Everyone loves home runs. That’s been Alonso’s whole thing since he joined the Mets in 2019, and he’s still mashing taters in 2023. Until he stops, he’s got a place on this list in perpetuity. 

7. Francisco Lindor

Team: New York Mets

Position: Shortstop

NEW YORK FACTOID: He’s done some modeling for Aimé Leon Dore.

The Mets’ resident fashionista embraces the lifestyle that comes with being a highly-paid shortstop in New York. He’s also showing no signs of slowing down in his ninth MLB season, while keeping a smile on his face that could power the entire eastern seaboard. 

6. Julius Randle

Team: New York Knicks

Position: Power Forward

NEW YORK FACTOID: His performance in this year’s 3-Point Contest was so bad it made his son cry. 

It’s clear that Randle has lost the title of Knicks’ best player, but he’s a perfectly admirable second banana on a team that has captured the city’s attention again. Love him or hate him, Randle is a pillar of the Knicks’ rejuvenation, something literally millions of people are appreciating.  

5. Anthony Volpe

Team: New York Yankees

Position: Shortstop

NEW YORK FACTOID: The 22-year-old grew up in the Upper East Side before his family moved to New Jersey, where he became the Yankees’ 2019 first-round pick out of Delbarton School in Morristown. 

The Derek Jeter comparisons are far too early—and unbelievably lazy—but the fact of the matter is that a cherubic prince arriving in the Bronx and immediately becoming the Yankees’ starting shortstop again is pretty damn cool. Volpe also has the benefit of youth (nobody’s realistically thinking he’ll win MVP) which means that any positive impact he has is more of a bonus than an expectation. 

4. Saquon Barkley

Team: New York Giants

Position: Running Back

NEW YORK FACTOID: Despite only playing 60 games, Barkley is already the sixth-leading rusher in the history of the Giants, who played their first game in 1925.

As long as he’s still on the Giants, Saquon Barkley will be one of the highest-profile athletes in New York. He’s got the effortless cool, the sick #26 earring, and he plays a true main character position. If he and the Giants can find common ground in their contract negotiations, Barkley can lock himself in as one of New York’s kings of the decade. 

3. Mikal Bridges

Team: Brooklyn Nets

Position: Shooting Guard/Small Forward

NEW YORK FACTOID: Despite being ten toes down in NYC, and currently engaged in a playoff series with the 76ers, Bridges remains an unabashed Philadelphia sports fan. He grew up there and won two national championships for Villanova, so it makes sense, but still a bold public stance to take in a city that despises all things Philly sports.  

You can’t talk about New York without Bridges! (longest groan ever recorded)

In all seriousness, the Nets’ new main attraction is the primary thing keeping Brooklyn fans sane right now. The most perversely entertaining team in the NBA has seen its fair share of turnover over the last three years, and with Bridges holding things down now, Barclays Center has an air of normalcy that was desperately needed. All hail normalcy. 

2. Aaron Judge

Team: New York Yankees

Position: Right Field

NEW YORK FACTOID: In December, he was named the 16th captain in Yankee history and the first since Derek Jeter.

During baseball season, it’s hard to knock the best player on the Yankees out of the upper tier, especially when said player set the American League home run record last season and is still hitting the label off the ball this season. Add in the fact that Judge was just the recipient of the offseason’s largest contract—and chose to stay in New York to receive those riches—and he’s got an indefinite claim on one of the top spots here.

1. Jalen Brunson

Team: New York Knicks

Position: Point Guard

NEW YORK FACTOID: His dad, Rick, played parts of three seasons with the Knicks and was part of the 1999 squad that made the Finals as an eight seed. 

One of the finalists for the NBA’s Most Improved Player award, a 24-points-a-night guy, and the best true point guard the Knicks have had in multiple generations, Brunson has a fittingly tight handle on the city. Getting the Knicks back to the playoffs (their first in a full season since 2013) made Brunson an instant hero in his debut season at MSG, where he’s proven time and again that he has an immense amount of dawg in him.