Paul Pierce says the Knicks need a better player than Jalen Brunson to make a finals run: “Your best player can’t be 6’2. On a championship team. Tell me what championship team’s player was the best player at 6’2? Just Steph.”
He may not be wrong, but I don’t care.
That’s the thing about ring culture, it puts everything on the championship or bust. I’m enjoying the fuck out of this era and Brunson is already one of the best Knicks ever and counting.
Would love a ring, but I gotta stop and smell the roses too
this is the perfect response.
while I’m shitting on the Knicks whenever I can, I’ve always respected their core fandom being loyal through the shit of the past two decades.
you have a fucking likable team, they are doing good, maybe not championchip good, but who fucking cares, enjoy the ride.
Yeah and it’s not like there is a way to magically turn our team into one that is any more of a contender. We can’t just morph Brunson into Jokic or prime LeBron lmao.
To look at it another way, we got Brunson the same offseason the jazz traded Gobert and Mitchell because they weren’t championship material. Give me the Knicks past 4 years over the jazz’ past 4 years any day of the week even if we have 0% chance to win a title (which we don’t, while it’s not likely it’s a potential outcome however small)
love every game we face off. even when i hate it haha
My homie has the same mentality, and it’s one I can appreciate for sure.
Real shit. It’s just a game.
This is the way. People acting like the Knicks are bums or some shit lmao. ECF last year and another 50+ win season this year. Like hop off haters
I would kill for a fraction of the Knicks regular season and playoff success in Sacramento.
This is the best Knicks run in sooo long, I’m hoping yall or Detroit stop Boston Ngl tho Boston is fuckin stacked tho
For real. people are buying tickets to games, going out to watch with friends at bars, parading in the streets bc this roster is likable and fun. And good.
People only bought tix to Melo’s Knicks team to boo his ass. Nobody was having fun.
I hate that I am agreeing with a Knicks fan over The Truth, but only one team can win it every year and that means at least 3 serious contenders and countless players are disappointed. There is far too much of the, if you didn’t win it all it is a failure of a season mentality. Some of my favourite Celtics seasons were spent enjoying awful teams.
Totally agree. Unless you are a juggernaut with a Shai or Jokic or Wemby level talent, you need some luck and some things to go your way to win a title. Whether it’s three point luck or injuries, that’s how it is. The Knicks are in the group of teams that they would need some luck, and it probably won’t happen, but fuck it, this is a fun team full of likable guys and they’re good.
Also Paul Piece, there’s no way Jalen is actually 6’2 so you’re wrong about that too buddy.
real
Based take. As a pacers fan (fuck you, of course), I’m surprised to hear this from a Knick. I’ve always assumed big markets mocked us small markets for being happy with our finals run last year.
Obviously we are upset we lost Hali for a whole year but it was still the most fun I’ve had as a pacers fan.
I’m glad you’re having fun too. Really enjoyed the shenanigans in the cj sub for our conference finals.
Thank you for posting this. I’m 100% for enjoying good basketball.
There’s legit nba talking heads that will say if it’s not a guaranteed ring you should tank.
PP says a lot, but he ain’t wrong here.
Brunson is great, but he isn’t Steph.
Isn’t Steph like 6’4 with shoes? Either way he also has much wider shoulders, is longer and has more range as a shooter. This isn’t a 1 to 1 comp
He also one of the best ball handlers the league has seen. He doesn’t get enough credit for it because he is the best shooter ever.
He’s the best side to side (horizontal) dribbler in the league to create space imo while his north to south is pretty good but not all time. I think it’s why people can’t decide if he’s one of the best dribbles ever or not
In his prime it didnt really matter. He creates a little horizontal space with his dribble and he was just gone. He wasnt explosive, but he was quick, and would just leave his defender behind.
2015-16 steph was special with how he was shooting and beating his man at will.
What do you mean prime? Did you not see that sequence in the gold medal game? Steph has enough to give himself a few inches of space and that’s all he needs, even against a double team.
Thats just because steph is one of the greatest to ever play. They were all over him and he nailed some of those shots.
Look back at all tapes. He could get off any shot he wanted because he could make so much space.
A lot of it is balance as well. Probably has the best balance in the league
I think 2018-22 Steph was his peak ball handling due to the added strength over the years he became a lot stronger driving against contact. The physicality Boston was playing against him on his drives in the 22 finals he couldn’t handle as well in 2016.
Also on top of all that his shooting meant you couldn’t really ever sit down into a stance against him. So he was going against defenders who were already half compromised because you couldn’t afford not to be
Insane that one of the best on ball players we’ve ever seen, is arguably the best player we’ve ever seen without the ball
Wait, why is it arguable? Who else is close without the ball?
He’s not quite as good but ironically Klay has to be up there
He does get enough credit for it. People used to ask Steph or kyrie for handles?
Since the NBA started measuring players without shoes in 2019, Steph Curry has been officially listed at 6’2”.
Everyone wears shoes.
Brunson measures 6’1” . Curry measured 6’2. You don’t get to just say “but Curry is 6’4 with shoes” and pretend Brunson goes out there barefoot. Steph has 8’1” standing reach. Jalen has 8’. Steph has a 6’3.5” wingspan. Jalen has a 6’4”.
They are for all intents and purposes the same size. Jalen isn’t near the player Steph is. That’s the real difference between the two.
I didn’t realize they were that close in height, Brunson looks so much smaller
This sounds weird but I think he plays with a much lower center of gravity than Steph
It’s because he’s a lot stronger, so his body doesn’t look as lanky.
The past few drafts, height has become my pet peeve…the way some players are spoken about where people will add a few inches to their height, but not others makes no sense. Like Ace Bailey’s stock was deflated because he measured 6’7.5. But Cooper Flagg was fine at 6’7.5”. And now i see people posting Flagg highlights listing him at 6’9”…because of the shoes! But everyone wears shoes! so why? There is no reason for it! I can’t ever imagine telling someone that I’m 5’9” because i wear shoes lol. I’m 5’7”, if I don’t need to lie about it, we don’t have to lie for guys who are literal giants haha. And don’t even get me started on the measurements where they add shoes, and Scottie Barnes goes from 6’7” to 6’8” (1” shoes) and Jalen Johnson goes from 6’7.75 to 6’9.25 (1.5” shoes). If shoes are inconsistent, and we have actual height, why are we adding shoes!
/rant
also, jalen’s just thicc/stocky like a kyle lowry, so he “looks” a lot shorter when really an inch difference is negligible. Steph was mad lanky the first half of his career before he started really bulking up, so people get the impression he’s much taller
He’s noticeably shorter than Ant who is 6’4
I don’t think he’s that tall
His off ball movement and cardio/endurance is also just insane, and I think that’s a huge difference that puts him in a different tier from other shorter guards. His off ball movement, cardio, and crazy fast shot release means that it’s less of him being guarded by a great player and more of an impact on the entire team defence with switching screens, roasting to cover the roller, etc since you can’t give him even a half second of daylight
So if you put Brunson on OKC this year instead of SGA, you would say it would be impossible for them to win the title?
Nothing is impossible, but personally I would rather bet on Denver or SA over OKC with Brunson and no sga. SGA is a tier above Brunson on both ends of the floor so to me it lowers their ceiling quite a bit.
I obviously agree SGA is better on both ends, but I still think OKC wins the title with Brunson as their lead guard - they have 3 or 4 elite perimeter defenders to help and elite rim protection, really wouldn’t be that difficult to cover up Brunson’s defensive deficiencies.
They become vulnerable to mismatch hunting with Brunson. He’ll get relentlessly picked on if he’s the only vulnerable player. He’s also not as efficient an iso scorer as Shai (even though he’s still incredible).
The OKC desperately need somebody that can create their own shots no matter what situation while also being able to defend on the other end
Can they still contend? Absolutely. Can they win? Their chances are a lot lower. Id put them below SAS, DEN and BOS
What about Pistons’ Isiah Thomas?
I mean even if you add him you got two all time great point guards vs the rest of league history. Small guards just usually aren’t the best player on the best team. Hell steph will be the only player under 6’6 on some peoples all time player ranking
Isiah Thomas is like what?
I think this is the best year for him to prove them wrong. If he can’t do it this year with a wide open east then I’ll start to believe it
The East isn’t wide open. It’s gotten more competitive and competent as the season went on, at least the top 4 seeds.
Yea people keep saying but that was the opinion at the start of the season. If the Knicks and Brunson were gonna stake their claim that the east goes through them it should have happened much sooner.
Wide open within the 4-5 top seeds at least. Wouldn’t be a surprise for any of them to get out of the east. Knicks are as good as any of them though
Hehe you said PP
What about pistons isiah Thomas?
He literally says this in the video.
He ain’t watching the clip 🤣
Oh what like we’re supposed to watch the thing we’re talking about now?
He literally says it 30 seconds into the vid. Cmon now
Damn, I have to listen to Paul Pierce talk?
I wouldn’t man. Paul Pierce is a fantastic example for the difference between ‘being a pro player in a sport and ‘being an observer/journalist of a sport’.
Only because you’re 6’7 and can ball, doesn’t mean that you’re educated about the sport, have a natural understanding of things or specifically about team sports and/or can express yourself in a way that you publicly adress a divers range of topics in a sport.
I wouldn’t want to listen to that guy if I would get paid. Sometimes I find KG takes that I wanted to listen to and had to sit through the parts of Paul Pierce. His post-NBA nickname should be The Cap.
Different era
When you have all these exceptions, then it’s just not a good argument.
I think we can make a finals run but Detroit is very tough, I think it’s their year.
It’s two people in 40 years and Brunson is worse than both said people
two people, but like 6 championships.
15% of championships is significant enough.
Brunson is still worse than both of those guys
Kevin Durant was the best player on 2 of those 6 championships.
i don’t think that’s a ridiculous statement, but i think the difference between them is so small where for the purpose of this discussion we can still count it for curry.
Sure, but you can’t really count a title as a win for the small guys when probably the most skilled 7 footer to ever play basketball was the finals MVP on those team.
when you have all these exceptions, then it’s just not a good argument
I mean, the play style and competition 40 years ago was completely different from what it is today. That’s not an exception pointing that what worked back then isn’t the same that will work now
It’s not really “all these exceptions” when it’s 2-3 teams in all of history
Besides the 2017-18 Warriors, every other team had a top 3 defense (1957 Celtics with Cousy, 1988 and 1989 Pistons with Thomas, 2015, 2017 and 2022 Warriors with Curry)
Knicks defense currently ranks 7th. Mitchell Robinson is a massive part of that who is coming off the bench. If you filter by just starters, the Knicks defense ranks 23rd. Their bench ranks 2nd.
Brunson and KAT is just not a championship duo with the way they can be attacked defensively. They are a really good team and I think are good enough to come out of the East, but it will always be a weakness for them. Against a team like OKC, you aren’t going to blow them out. At worst they’ll stay attached until the last few minutes. You have to win in crunch time, and putting Brunson and KAT out there against an automatic guy like SGA is just an uphill battle. The Knicks are 0-6 against the Thunder the last 3 years since they’ve been good. That’s not a great sign to trust them to win 4 out of 7.
They beat Boston last year because the Celtics couldn’t hit a bunch of wide open 3’s, and they couldn’t stop the Pacers either. The Knicks offense is fine, it’s great even, and Brunson and KAT are playing better off of one another this season. It’s the defense that’s an issue and shouldn’t just be discarded that you need great defense to win. Letting players walk into shots and get to their spot is just hoping they choke and beat themselves. If you have faith in that, you’re entitled to that opinion.
Personally, I’m not a believer in the Knicks to win it all.
It seems like everyone is arguing if Brunson is “good enough”, and I actually think he is, but the issue to me is rhythm and play style as guys don’t touch the ball for an extended period of time in these playoff games. That’s a Brunson problem but it’s also just a coaching choice - he’s objectively one of the best isolation players in the league but you also want your wings and bigs to get going.
Lol Yall not getting past Celtics again, stop it
Two people in 50? Years ?
Woweeeee
Ok you can expand it to a larger sample who are the worst players to lead a finals team, how many of them were bad defenders?
Haliburton and Booker are the only 2 who are not top 3 players of the season and also not good defenders
So it’s def possible both those teams had a very real chance at winning their series it is quite unlikely tho
Yeah but sometimes I think it literally boils to size and wingspan. Brunson could body up all he wants, but still have people just shoot right over him. Also haliburton plays a style that raises his whole team offensively in ways that Brunson just doesn’t.
Consensus is that by then Dumars was probably the better player, even if Isiah was the leader and had the better career.
Some advanced stats show Dumars, Laimbeer and Rodman as all being better by that point.
Advanced stats my dick. There’s no realm of reality where any of those guys at any point in their career were better than Isiah Thomas, let alone in ‘88 and ‘89
The consensus is not that Dumars was better, you’re just pulling that out of your ass. Dumars was a better defender, he was a very efficient guard, but he was by no means better than Thomas at any point. The Lambieer and Rodman part of your comment is just weird and isn’t even worth addressing.
so your telling me there’s a chance?
Isn’t this the same opinion that Becky Hammon got flamed for?
Yes and she was right 2 years ago 😂
Dude it’s Paul Pierce, anybody serious already moved on when they read his name.
Yeah she said this like 2 years ago and has been 100% right
And will continue to be right
She was right its not just Brunson but when your 2 best players play no defense its hard to win
OG plays good ass defense though?
Og better then Kat?
Yeah, because everyone parrots the same take every year and every year Brunson takes us further
“Takes us further” - you just like edging
NY sports is the holy grail of edging tbf
I feel like the addition of KAT is what helped you guys get to the ECF last year. But Brunsen is a bucket, and can get you 30+ any night. Just depends how much he gives up on defense really.
While I tend to agree, my counterpoint would be that Brunson is playing like one of the best 6’2” or shorter players ever the past 3 seasons. So it’s not really like there’s many players to compare him to. I hate to admit it but he reminds me a lot of a taller IT
This whole talk is just them talking out their ass. There is no reason to believe you can’t win with this or that. If Steph was unlucky and played in shit rosters, the same idiots would say you can’t win with Steph, he is too small and can’t defend. A lot of players like Jokic, Giannis, Dirk won only once, all in different circumstances where they could have lost if things were a little different, and people would be talking about how those guys are not winners if they happened to lose (like Nets being healthier against the Bucks, Dirk losing like he was supposed to, etc.)
If you have a good team, there are a lot of players that you can win with, hell even Haliburton almost won last season in a great way as well
The reason is basketball history. They aren’t talking out there ass. This is a common take about small guards not leading to rings. Halliburton is like 6’5” - 6’6”.
It’s hard to be a great NBA player when you are small. It’s hard to lead your team to an NBA championship. Statistically, you’re not going to have many smaller players lead their team to an NBA championship, but it’s an uninteresting argument. Of course shorter players aren’t usually leading teams to NBA championships
You’ve seen the Knicks play for a whole ass regular season, tell me something more interesting about why they aren’t going to win based on how they’ve played and not just the roster sheet.
Yeah I agree with PP here but to be fair Brunson plays like he’s much bigger than 6’2.
not really
It definitely makes sense to look at what has worked in the past, but there’s always the chance of something new happening. Fluky Finals runs happen, and I don’t really see a reason that someone of Brunson’s caliber couldn’t capitalize on the right set of circumstances to win a championship. The Knicks are a good team, and he’s talented.
If there’s one thing I’m never concerned about is a players height
Production is production. Brunson has proved over and over again that his lack of being 1-3 inches taller is not what’s keeping the Knicks from a finals trophy
I can list 10 other things far more consequential then his height
People ignore the fact that he plays bigger than what his height says he is. Hes strong, physical, and gets to the line easily. That helps make up for his height issues on the offensive end
And Brunson would be an inch or two taller if his giant head *wasn’t compressing down onto his neck
Pistons with Billups and Isiah
Both those teams had like 3 players within striking distance of each other at the top. Bit different from Brunson being the clear cut top dog on the Knicks.
I’ll push back a bit on the Bad Boy Pistons. Yes Dumars was a very, very good, Hall of Fame level SG. Rodman ended up being an incredible Hall of Fame defender and rebounder. The rest of the team was pretty stacked too but no one on that team, and I mean not a single one of them were within striking distance of Isiah Thomas insofar as being the team’s best player. Even within Hall of Famers and all time great players there are levels and Zeke is a top 20 level worthy player, maybe he isn’t there anymore but he’s definitely had a top 20-30 all time impact, Dumars doesn’t come close to sniffing that and Rodman’s skillset and personal issues didn’t allow him to carry a team like that.
He was a terrible coach, mediocre at best in the media a disaster as the CBA president and one of the 5 worst GMs in NBA history but man could that guy ball.
I know a Pistons fan who says Sheed was the best player on that team even tho he got there in the middle of the year, but I don’t know if thats the prevailing opinion among Pistons fans.
Zeke, however, was head and shoulders the best player on those teams.
I mean, he definitely put them over the top, but (apparently almost) no one believes he was the best player on that team. Most people would probably put him fourth with Chauncey, Big Ben and Rip ahead of him.
Personally, I always thought Big Ben was immensely underrated and so wasnt acknowledged as the best player on that team. But that dude wouldn’t let anyone say otherwise for Sheed
Big Ben was definitely beloved in Detroit, I mean we retired his number after all. Detroit definitely loves our underdog stories and guys who feel like they have been overlooked and had to grit and grind to the top. Detroit definitely gave him is respect
Sheed was the most talented player on that team.
In terms of impact, what made that team beautiful was they meshed so well together on both ends.
In any case, Chauncey Billups is not a clear, traditional ‘best player’ that disproves the general point.
Rasheed was the best player on that team and is probably one of the most underrated players of all time.
Most analysts consider Dumars to be the best player on the Pistons by 1990. Advanced analytics show Rodman and Laimbeer to also be better than Isiah by 1990.
He was not head and shoulders above everyone else on that team
Billups is much bigger than Brunson.
Mehhh. You put Brunson on either of those teams and take Billups/Thomas out and they still win. You put Brunson on the GSW roster (without KD) and take out Steph and they are a 2nd round exit type of team.
The thing that made the 04 pistons so special is that there was no best player really. All of them all star caliber but none superstar. Then the depth also was huge
i respect the opinion but if you lose to brunson you gotta start looking at the mirror.
the best player on the knicks post all star break has been kat tho lol
Well shit you’re deff not winning a championship if Kat is your best player..
Lmaoo
Celtics showed best player matters less than the team’s depth on both ends
Tatum shot tour dates all playoffs and it didn’t matter because the team was so stacked
That’s not an apples to apples comparison. Tatum shooting %’s may have been bad but he did everything else at an above average or elite level. Plus Tatum put the haters to bed in game 5 of the finals. 31-8-11 on 11⁄24 shooting.
Knicks fans downvoting you because your best player won a chip is hilarious lmao
They’re just mad because they know if either Brunson or Kat had bad shooting %’s, they’d just be a net negative. Tatum/Brown do a lot more than score.
That’s the thing w/ the Knicks we aren’t just the Jalen Brunson show…OG, KAT, Bridges, Deuce, Clarkson, Shamet all can go off for 25+
you think PP is sitting at home watching knicks games?
Zeke
I wonder if Paul mentions it in the video
It’s a fair point but I think they surrounded him with enough size and defense to make up for it. Brunson also isn’t a bad defender especially for his position and height. I have the knicks coming out of the east after a hard fought series against the cavs in the conference finals
Gimme whatever you smokin bro lmao
Dude is a celtics fan and has the Knicks coming out of the east with Cleveland in the conference.
i’m still not 100% convinced he’s actually a celtics fan, but if he is he’s the most pessimistic one i’ve ever met
I’m biased because I’m a Knicks fan but I think Knicks-Cavs conference finals with Knicks coming out the east is what I’m expecting as well.
The top 4 teams are really good so even though I think it’s the most likely scenario, obviously with the 4 different possible matchups, it could be the most likely scenario but still not probable.
He also said Brunson isn’t a bad defender lol. Dude been hot boxin his living room this AM
Isiah?
They say this in the video
I mean Allen Iverson took that shitty 76ers team to the finals lol
They didn’t win a championship though, and that’s the argument here.
ya I know but my argument is there’s plenty of shorter guys that have taken their team to the finals doesn’t matter if they won or not they still had a chance
In 2024, the Knicks were a 40 foot Nembhard 3 with 2 seconds left from going to the conference finals.
In 2025, the Knicks were a Haliburton 3 pt prayer away from hosting Game 7 of the conference finals.
Last year, they beat Detroit and Boston in playoff series. That team is a lot closer than people realize.
They lost 3 more games after the Nembhard 3 from 40 ft, so they were a bit farther away than that 1 shot including a home game 7 where they were ran out of the Garden. In 2025 they lost the Haliburton game in OT and blew a 10+ lead in the final 2 minutes of the 4th just for Haliburton to have a chance to win or tie that game. Let’s not pretend the Pacers only won those series on dumb luck bounces.
The Knicks are close but they didn’t lose the last two years on dumb luck. They got beat and had every opportunity to control their own fate both times.
tbf for 2024 that Knicks team was disgustingly injured. No Randle, Mitch, OG for most of that series, Bogdanovic, and Hart + Deuce playing through injuries.
2025 yall were just on something different.
JB took discount so he can get better players, it’s more a knock on rest of the players than JB. He’s been a playoff riser and put them back on map.
The only team it’s worked for is the one that’s won 4 of the last 9 championships
But Brunson is nowhere near Steph lol.
Ok, what would happen if he had KD, Klay, Iggy, Dray and guys like that with him. Would they have 0 rings right now?
If Brunson had GS KD, he wouldn’t be the best player anymore
It didn’t “work” for the warriors because of a system or roster construction. It is because of steph curry and it is disrespectful to him to put him in jb convos
And two of them were cakewalks due to KD. Just hard to build a good team around smaller players nowadays with every team going bigger
Ridiculous to compare Brunson and Curry, and that’s not even addressing the Kevin Durant of it all for half of those.
We always hear about these “rules”. There was a time when you couldn’t win a championship shooting jump shots, then a couple of years ago the internet swore up and down that you couldn’t win a championship running your offense through a big man. And while there was truth to those statements, same way there’s some truth to this, all these things ended up not being true, because when it’s all said and done, the only thing that matters is how good the player in question is.
Do I think this Knicks team will win the championship? They aren’t the favorite, but I also wouldn’t be shocked if they did because when the chips are down Brunson is a consistent bucket getter, and that’s all you need from your best player.
For the first like, 40 years of the NBA you couldn’t win without a HoF big man.
100% this. Everything “works” when you have great players. The Warriors did it with small ball, but they had a Steph/Klay backcourt, and you can live and die with threes with those two shooting. Many teams tried to replicate that, but it just doesn’t work without 2 generational shooters on your team.
Brunson is more than able to lead a team to a Finals win. Doesn’t matter that he’s 6’2”, he knows how to score.
Just made a comment on this too.
he’s not wrong
Give Brunson a historically great team first. The warriors were winning the semi conference finals with Steph not playing a single minute.
Not disagreeing with the essence of the take, but I will add that Isiah Thomas also meets this criteria.
As expected New York sports people are downplaying the level of “exception” Steph is, but he was basically a top 3 or top 2 player in the world in his era and is a top 10 player all time. Brunson is a nasty scorer, don’t get me wrong. But he’s not the best player in the series beyond the first round
Since he’s put on the Knicks uniform, can you name a series where he wasn’t the leading scorer for both teams? He’s far from perfect but I’m genuinely curious why Brunson doesn’t at least get that kind of respect. Is it because of his height? …Being a 2nd round draft pick?
No one 6’2” can win until they do, they’ll keep moving the goalposts but Brunson is a great team leader. He just needs one or two more pieces and more focus from his bench and KAT and frankly the Knicks could easily win the championship.
Your best player can be 6’2” it’s just that 6’2” players that are good enough to win a championship are rare. Isaiah Thomas and Steph Curry are the only ones.
I would say that Brunson as the “best player on a championship team” has always been a stretch, however you can’t blame the Knicks for going for it. If everything goes right for them it’s a giant “maybe” which is better than most teams. Obviously if they got Giannis or something they have a better chance. I don’t think it’s controversial to say that prime Brunson is not as good as prime Curry or Thomas for his respective era.
Also how many players are even in the NBA that are 6’2 and under? It’s an extreme minority. So clearly we won’t get a large sample size.
I think Nash was “good enough” to win a championship as the best player for the record, it just never happened for him. Prime Mark Price(one or two years) might have been good enough. Also Iverson made the finals as well, a little bit of luck and maybe he wins. Also players like Jerry West and Dwayne Wade are just over that 6’2” threshold, probably a few others and they won.
It’s a valid take but KAT has always been the X factor
The Knicks are a competitive, well run team with a selfless star player who repeatedly carries the team and competent leadership/management.
I never thought that would be the case.
I’m gonna enjoy this while it lasts, hopefully with a chip but no sweat if not. Rings culture can kick rocks.
With all due respect to big body Brunson…he wanted that nova roster. Biggest mistake he made was getting bridges over. That ruined any future they have.
Obviously he wanted his college teammates, but when did he construct the roster?
I really loved the commercial with the nova boys, but mikael should’ve been Dante in the commercial.
Isiah Thomas. Two rings 1989,1990. He’s 6’-1”
Isiah Thomas
/r/nba parrots the same point about DG, but gonna shit on PP here
Brunson isn’t comparable to Darius Garland buddy
DG is as good as Brunson? I don’t think the Knicks would trade him for 36 y/o Harden personally
Delly
Facts.
How many teams’ best player is 6’2”? And then you except arguably the only other team who fits that criteria, a team who won more championships than any other team the past two decades?
Cant have an undersized scoring guard that cant defend. Thems the rules.
Allen Iverson was good at basketball
The bigger conversation (which I guess the height point is hinting at) is brunson’s abysmal defense. He is offensively great enough, and has a good enough team around him, to conceivably win a championship. But defensively he’s a huge chink in the armor. I’m not sure it’s possible nowadays for your best player to be one of the worst defenders in the league and win it all.
I don’t really agree, the problem isn’t that Brunson is 6’2 per se, is that he just isn’t a top echelon player in the league, if he was better, like on a similar level to someone like Shai or Luka offensively, he could be the number 1 on a title team.
6’2 Jalen Brunson beat his Celtics last year. They also beat Embiid and Maxey. They also beat Mitchell and Mobley. They also beat Cade. Jalen Brunson was breaking Michael Jordan’s playoff scoring records.
The Knicks are a flawed team, you can criticize them in earnest without pulling out this bullshit that’s based on nothing but vibes. These guys are so annoying.
6’2” and under players in the NBA are extremely rare.
Stars who are the best on their team and win a championship are even more rare.
Is it any surprise we haven’t seen a guy do both at once…besides the one guy who’s done it many times? Oh and the other guy who did it (IT).
Just assess Brunson for what he is, instead of falling back on some shaky height axiom that doesn’t even stand on its face.
I guess no one clicked on the video. Isiah Thomas was mentioned lol
Pierce is wrong here, but the slightly modified “you can’t win a title if your best player is 6’2” AND your starting center is a defensive minus” is basically correct
Damn, maybe Brunson should try to shit his pants so he can be on Paul Pierce’s level one day
Correlation is not causation, dummy. If the league is mostly tall players above 6-6, it doesn’t mean a dude 6-2 couldn’t win a championship simply because most of the winners are taller.
Do 25 points count for less points if you’re 6’2”?
this talking point is stupid
There’s a second time for a lot of things
Wasnt iverson 6’0?
It’s moreso that he’s a bad defender. Height def impacts that, but there’s been plenty of guards around that height that can be elite defenders.
Knicks are good enough to make it to game 6 of the ECF, but not to the finals…
Brunson slander ain’t no way
Been saying this for years. They’ll never get it done with Brunson; you can see the frustration KAT has with them running offense through a less efficient, predictable player.
The fact people are defending this idiotic “analysis” is what’s wrong with the NBA.
Brunson’s height isn’t why the Knicks won’t win it all.
If Zach Lowe would of said this everyone would agree.
i do agree with what he’s saying but the player doesnt need to be better than brunson but has to be similar tier to brunson. All the people in here saying Isiah Thomas, man just watch the clip lmao
I mean regardless of height, can you win a championship with Brunson as your best player?
Last 5 years we’ve had SGA/Tatum/Jokic/Curry/Giannis win rings. You really need to have a top 6-7~ player to compete these days. Brunson is amazing, but he isn’t that.
I would argue Paul should have argued that Brunson is held back by his height, and that others his size have come before and won, but they have a better skill set. I agree that Jalen alone isn’t enough. They need a true #2 option who can shoot and slash, but I also don’t have a podcast or national audience, so take my opinion for what ever you feel it’s worth.
D wade
Wade was 6’4 with a near 7 foot wing span who was all defense
And even then, it took him 4 chips just to get FMVP
This is a relic take from an era where shooting was less ubiquitous and the cap was less restrictive. Teams in the past relied more on one individual iso scorer with little to no spacing and players could team up with whoever. Now talented players don’t all go to wherever LeBron is and pedestrian spot up shooting is beating individual scoring so the gap between a MVP and an all nba scorer is less impactful.
Ehhh. No. Knicks just need to be hot at the right time. They got knocked out by that Black Magic Pacers last year they couldve been in the Finals already. They have good wing players and a big who can shoot.
He talks a lot but he’s right here. Brunson ain’t dragging the Knicks to the finals
Idk, this argument is incredibly reductive but I kind of get it. At the end of the day, even if he brings the effort defensively, he’s still a target to hunt for mismatches or even out thru a ton of screens.
However, if this team had 1-2 more playmakers, more ball handlers, more athleticism and just rim protecting bigs around him, I think they could come close or be a exception. The roster construction from 2024 until now has been a little headscratching, imo.