There is a persistent belief that athletes who play in New York have certain advantages over those who play in Kansas City, say, or Pittsburgh. This is a hoary old argument born in the days when physical proximity to Madison Avenue mattered, when the New York media was uber-influential in setting the national sporting agenda.

It certainly helped Joe Willie Namath’s brand (though it was certainly not called a “brand” in his day) that he worked in a city that featured the Great White Way; “Broadway Joe” sure has a better ring to it than “Peachtree Street Joe,” or “Pennsylvania Avenue Joe,” or “Broad Street Joe” or “Michigan Avenue Joe.” It just does.

It is true that Ted Williams was twice clearly robbed of the MVP Award (1942, 1947) and both of those times a Yankee won it, Joe Gordon in ’42 and Joe DiMaggio in ’47, and you could certainly make a case that Williams’ .406 in 1941 could have (or should have) trumped DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak in the MVP race, but even Williams admitted that had more to do with going out of his way to alienate and agitate the voting body (not the finest hour for sportswriters, alas) than geography.

In truth, I would argue that often, especially now, having “New York” on your jersey or your helmet serves as a hindrance, and I believe it has actually allowed most of the NBA community to overlook just how brilliant Jalen Brunson has been for the Knicks this year.

He was snubbed entirely by the All-Star vote. In the final ESPN MVP straw poll conducted by former Post basketball writer Tim Bontemps, he wasn’t one of the 14 players who received votes which confirms (along with a deep pool of worthy guards) the strong likelihood that he’ll be left off all three All-NBA teams when that vote is revealed.

And with a late push by the Nets’ Mikal Bridges, Brunson is now probably fourth in line for Most Improved — a silly award, but if they’re going to give it out how can Brunson not be the clear-cut choice, or at least a co-favorite with Utah’s Lauri Markkanen?

Is there some kind of New York Backlash? I won’t necessarily go all the way there. But there has certainly been no New York Bump for Brunson, no extra credit given in a year when just a usual amount of credit should have brought some kind of accolades besides a string of good-news back pages (and a playoff berth).

What makes this seem familiar is this possibility: Brunson is a guy that you are more likely to appreciate if you watch him play every game. That, plus the familiar (if mostly, in these times, unspoken) aphorism “if he didn’t play in New York …” can be a deadly 1-2 punch.

After all, as impossible as this sounds for those of us who saw the entirety of his career, ask some of your baseball-fan friends in the flyover states or out on the West Coast how they view Derek Jeter. As often as not it comes back this way: “Great. But if he played in Cincinnati he wouldn’t have been considered an immortal. And he sure wouldn’t have come one vote shy of unanimous for the Hall of Fame.” Ludicrous? It should be.

Still, in 2006, Jeter missed out on plugging the one hole in his résumé when he finished 14 votes behind Justin Morneau for AL MVP. Part of that was that ’06 was maybe the last time MVP voters focused on old-time stats; Jeter’s WAR, for instance, was 6.1 (to Morneau’s 3.8). But consider this comment from a voter who placed Jeter sixth on his ballot:

“Derek Jeter had nice numbers, but you could plug another guy in that lineup and that guy would have close to his numbers.”

And that wasn’t a lonely voice.

Soon we may see the same thing when it comes to Eli Manning and the Hall of Fame. His credentials should be impeccable, and he should have an EZ-Pass for first-ballot enshrinement when the Canton Class of 2025 is evaluated. At least that’s the perception around here. Elsewhere? You really still do hear the rebuttal: “He was terrific. But if he played in Arizona …”

Guess what? He still would’ve been terrific. And if you have any Mavericks fans in your life, ask them how they think Dallas would look this year if it had Brunson still running the point instead of Kyrie Irving. No need to ask Knicks fans. Sometimes it really is possible to keep a fun little secret even in the big, bad city.