Jalen Brunson in the win: 38/5/6 with 3 steals on 57% TS
https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401873341
38 points
5 rebounds
6 assists
3 steals, 15⁄29 FG, 1⁄6 3PT, 7⁄10 FT
SAY THE LINE BART
“Everyone’s better than Jalen Brunson….”
What’s the origin of this meme
no one knows exactly who came up with it but people just keep saying it, because it keeps on being true
This is gonna sound crazy but I said it in a TikTok comment that got a couple hundred likes over a year ago and I have yet to find the phrase posted before mine on any other social media platform. I’m not taking credit for it but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
you might have been the first to say it about Brunson but its been a phrase i’ve seen for numerous athletes for years. Jalen Hurts, Max Verstappen are some other guys i’ve seen it said about
[deleted]
to be fair, hali was rarely better than brunson. nembhard and neismith are the ones haunting my nightmares
triggering
The Pacers won because they played better as a team top to bottom, not because Haliburton went nuclear and played way better than Brunson.
So it just wasn’t a time where he had to be better than Brunson?
Hali was definitely better than brunson that series come on now
Brunson averaged 30 in that series
I remember a couple games where that Brunson just dribbled the air out of the ball and iced out his guys. Hali’s phenomenal at getting his boys going and running the offense, brunson’s great at scoring. They’re both great players but I’d take Hali’s performance in that series with the clutch shots and awesome playmaking, but either one can be the better player on a different day
Go back to talking yourself into Zubac being worth the 5th pick
UNDERSTAND A CATCHPHRASE CHALLENGE: IMPOSSIBLE
Dunno who exactly started it but its seemed like every playoff series brunson has been a part of for the last couple years theres just a swarm of media analysts saying insert team will have the best or the two best players on the court so they should win. Last years Pistons series comes to mind, both Sixers series. So its just a response to his endless career of surprising analysts by once again proving the same thing.
IF IM WEARING THIS HARD HAT
It’s a variation of the original phrase “everybody’s a gangster until its time to do gangster shit”.
Funnily enough I saw it first for Max Verstappen in F1 but I dont know when it became our catchphrase for Brunson
it was used a lot for Jalen Hurts as well, specifically related to the 2024 super bowl lol
Which severely damages the phrases credibility
I think it eventually came up cuz every year there’s posts / discussion from media about the top 5 or so guards in the East saying like “Who’s the best” Knicks fans then adapted the meme everyone’s better than Jalen Brunson till the playoffs
I’m pretty sure it was Wally Szczerbiak. He’s been saying it for ages.
Yeah, that does sound like somehting he’d come up with
EVERYONE BETTER THAN BRUNSON TILL ITS TIME TO BE BETTER THAN BRUNSON 🗣️
That’d be a great sign at a game
Everyone’s better than Brunson until it’s time to be better than Brunson
Honestly such an accurate line when comparing him to the other East PGs
Idk if it’s because of size bias or what but it feels like Brunson automatically gets rated under any player within 20% of his production and constantly has to prove he’s a franchise player
because he’s not flying through the air dunking. If he was 6’4 he’d be easily top 3 player in the league and it wouldn’t be a debate.
definitely best in the east.
Neither was Steph
Steph is the best shooter of all time and the warriors had the best teams of all time with him at the helm. If the Knicks went 73-9 Brunson would be an mvp as well. Brunson is very good and probably a top 5 player in this league but Steph is a Top 5 guard of all time.
Yeah Steph to Brunson is an unfair comparison. Steph is one of the most impactful players in the history of the entire sport, let alone the NBA.
Ok slow down now. I love Brunson but SGA, Jokic, Wemby, Luka, and Giannis still exist.
This is season Brunson > Giannis
But I agree, I think the point is Brunson is very good but based on his size will always be underrated.
I’m taking Bron, Tatum, and a healthy Kawhi over Brunson too
Healthy Kawhi is an oxymoron and Bron and Tatum were both in this years playoffs and didn’t put up near the numbers Brunson is putting up now or even over the last couple of playoffs
This season Lebron?
Top 2 minimum
Steph literally revolutionized the game of basketball that’s a little different
God tier footwork and touch to create buckets isn’t as flashy as raining 3s from the moon so casuals don’t see it
Top 3? Nah bro
Bruh. A lot of things would be different for literally every single person on the planet if they were 7 inches taller
He’s 6’2
lmao if he grew up with that height, he probably wouldnt develop those skills he has now
if my mom had wheels she’d be a bike
Definitely size bias but also his size makes people assume that his defense is inadequate (sometimes it is). But his offensive production more than makes up for it imo.
Inch for inch, he’s probably the best one
How many inches, would you say?
Brunson has been fairly underrated his entire NBA career even now despite all the accolades.
Except Haliburton.
Both Pacers series were out of Brunson’s control. Injuries and bad coaching from Thibs.
I get that, but I don’t exactly think the “everyone’s better than Brunson until it’s time to be better” really applies to Hali.
well Hali used cheat codes that series so I don’t really think it should count
To be fair in both of the series against the Pacers, Brunson had better individual performances than Haliburton. If we’re doing a 1 to 1 Brunson was/is better. This isn’t to say anything bad about Hal. More so Hal has had a number of low scoring low shot attempts games where Brunson didn’t
Still disgusts me how much credit Haliburton gets for that series when Siakam won MVP and Nesmith is the reason they won game 1
If only he was 2 inches taller, unfortunately just because of that, apparently he is not gonna lead his team to a championship. Not any other reason, just being 2 inches shorter
Just 2 inches would make such a difference for me too, so I can relate with him.
I would literally murder to get Brunson on the raps over IQ, and I like IQ. So yeah, he’s pretty great.
That fourth quarter was next level. Mitchell and harden combined for 2-10 from the field. Brunson was 7-9 and 1-1 from three. He got to the spots and hit the shots. Down 22 he’s not just hucking 3s
Yall don’t wanna find out that Harper and castle are better than Brunson.
Cmon man be serious, they’re good and will be for a long time but they aren’t at his level yet.
We shall see. There’s a whole defensive side of the court. They’re not as good on offense, but they’re that much better on defense.
Mr. 11 turnovers is not better than Jalen Brunson. Please be serious
All time riser
It will be a travesty if Brunson never wins a ring.
Also, HOW TF DOES NICO LET BOTH JALEN AND LUKA WALK?!!
Masai trying to clean out the fungus
Kawhi: “what he say fuck me for”
He’s an all-time enormous dumbass who used charm to convince people who didn’t know ball that he DID know ball.
Meanwhile Leon Rose hasn’t said a word publicly in 5 years and his team is in the conference finals carried by a guy that the Mavs wouldn’t offer 4yrs/55m when he was up for his rookie extension.
Leon Rose is underrated. His work doesn’t get praised enough
Coulda had him on a 4⁄55 but they let him walk lmfao
That’s Nico “the Kingmaker” Harrison to you sir.
The Mark Cuban effect
He let Jalen walk. He booted Luka down the back stairs
Revisionist history.
I live in Dallas and most people at that time were saying they would have liked to keep him but not at the money he was asking for.
Of course now everyone is singing a different tune.
just go back to the post of brunson signing with ny and most of the comments are making jokes and calling it an overpay and referencing how Leon Rose is his godfather.
Anti-Harden in the playoffs
One of the all time best scorers in the playoffs. Somehow the narrative hasn’t caught up
he makes me rise
It really felt like he was walking the Cavs down the whole 4q, he knew they would fold. Guy is a cold blooded killer
That’s because he was. He single handedly brought the momentum (and score) back
Shout out to Bridges and Shamet too
That was some Kobe shit on that run absolutely none of those shots had any fucking business going in
EVERYONE IS BETTER THAN BRUNSON UNTIL WHAT???
UNTIL ITS TIME TO BE BETTER THAN BRUNSON
El Capitan
The Brunson burner. Dude is a DAWG
BETTER THAN SPIDA
Everyone could’ve admitted that 4 years ago
But Spida dunks 🥹🥹 lol LGK
Not when tyler kolek is trailing the play
Betrayed by that windmill shit
hes the one small guard who has rights in my house
One of the best playoff performers in the past few years. Dude is always clutch and never gives up
Said it before and I’ll say it again, most clutch player in the NBA
And it’s not even close
Not even close? Come on, Haliburton went 13 of 15 on game-winning or game-tying shots just last year. Did the trauma of Game 1 cause you to block that memory and forget that he existed?
Sure if you personally define clutch as the last game winning shot than Hali has it but other than that Brunson still the clutch king
This is so ridiculous. Look it’s not like I took umbrage with the claim that Brunson is the most clutch player in the game - I actually agree with that. I just think it’s absurd to say that it’s not even close, especially after the run Hali had last year.
Celtics fans and Pacers fans still fellating each other. WHEN WILL IT END?!
Okay most clutch player that doesn’t have terrible clothing choices.
3-1
What on earth does that have to do with Haliburton being “not even close” to as clutch a player as Brunson?
Celtics are in your head so deep that you can’t even look past my flair.
EVERYBODY IS BETTER THAN BRUNSON UNTIL ITS TIME TO BE BETTER THAN BRUNSON
EVERYBODY’S BETTER THAN JALEN BRUNSON UNTIL ITS TIME TO BE BETTER THAN JALEN BRUNSON
Craziest freaking 4th quarter performance I’ve seen, best guard since Curry
Woah
THATS MY MF CAPTAIN
Best player in the east other than Giannis.
Best player in the east full stop
A healthy Giannis is better, let’s not get ahead of ourselves
Availability is the best ability
This is true
There’s a 4 year track record of both of them being the #1 option on an East team and Brunson is easily the better choice
And it’s been what 5 years
Just last year he was playing absolutely insane basketball in the Indiana series but he had no help
Heard you saying shit about short guards.
Morons just make shit up don’t they. Actual adults seriously believe that just because this guy is not like 2-3 inches taller, he is not winning a ring. But they say except Curry and Isaiah, now if they win, they’ll say, you can’t win with a short guard unless that player is Curry, Isaiah or Brunson. Yeah, that’s the only reason they won’t win if they don’t, not because they got Wemby or OKC on the other hand
I thought the Cavs had the Brunson stopper
Wade was honestly fantastic on him, them just letting him cook Harden in the 4th… jfc
Eh he’s still getting that floater on all of them
It wasn’t really working until we shit the bed in the 4th.
It seemed more like rust than wade owning him on defense.
What was his line at half?
Brunson is the ultimate 4th qtr riser
Horrid I remember he was like 30% from the field before he checked in during the 4th
Yea, he was even missing free throws.
Jalen Brunson saving my mental once again
Everyone is better than Jalen Brunson until it’s time to be better than Jalen Brunson
Greatest Knick of all time
Nerlens Noel erasure
Frank Ntilikina would like a word
My French prince
If Nerlens Noel only had hands he would have been a fantastic player. Too bad he was born with cinder blocks where his hands are. Such a shame.
Old ping pong paddle hands himself
Na, Willis & Clyde still above him and he has way more help than Ewing did
Over Ignas Brazdeikis?
Don’t ignore Chris Copeland like that
My man
Lou Amundsen has something to say here
Thundercat!
Over Jimmer Fredette??
When the team needed him most, he showed up big!
The Anti-Avatar?
Monster game he was a dawg
Where are all of the JB haters??? Always so fucking quiet when he goes off
Jalen Brunson is the best Knick I’ve ever seen in my lifetime. I’m truly in awe when I watch him play.
He has saved my life.
Even for the King of NY?
Jalen Brunson
Lol. Donovan Mitchell over Brunson. Hilarious.
All 38 came against Harden too lol
Brunson is him
He really is the best guard since Curry. Might get NBA Cup MVP and Finals MVP in the same season as 2nd Team all NBA and No MVP votes
There’s already a guard with 2 MVPs, a Finals MVP and multiple 1st team All-NBA selections. That guard is not Jalen Brunson
God dam what a takeover from JB
with the guards in the cavs roster, he should drop 40 in every single game of these conference finals
That’s the thing, Brunson was legit rusty in this game and he still dropped 38
he looked genuinely awful in the first quarter
Whole team did honestly and I expected that to happen but we still played hard Defense and that’s what still kept it close.
O captain, my captain!
Jalen “I’m not a star” Brunson. Honestly, it might be the humility that makes him so clutch.
EVERYONES BETTER THAN JALEN BRUNSON UNTIL ITS TIME TO BE BETTER THAN JALEN BRUNSON
Best American basketball player in the world.
Brunson is the greatest Knick since Ewing, Easily clears Melo now. Not only is he clutch and puts us on his back, he’s a great captain and example to the other players unlike Melo.
Lets not forget this guy left money on the table for us to put together this team, How he isn’t maxed 0ut is crazy.
Unnecessary Melo slander
It’s always on the most unrelated posts too
That contract benefitted the team and Brunson. Guaranteed him the money and lets him get to 10 year max a year earlier than if he had waited to extend. Much love to him still but this wasn’t just doing NY a solid
It’s a risk doing that though, what if he gets a serious ACL? A lot of players are taking that money now regardless if you want to gamble and get more.
It’s benefiting us right now to put together a run.
My goat
Good job Brunson 😭
Lord Brunson
METAL BATS
Took a pay cut so Knicks could sign more guys
My goat.
u couldn’t convince me he was gonna finish with 38 after those first 3 quarters
I’m so fond of him
Heroic stuff. The best Knick I can remember and I remember those 90’s teams
I am in love with him I think
someone else said it and I’ve been thinking it… I’d take BRunson over Luka right now and especially for this KNicks team. and thats hard to really even put into words that Brunson might have ended up being more valuable than Luka.
Why? Luka’s ceiling is still higher, and Brunson hasn’t done anything that Luka hasn’t already accomplished.
ceiling? sure… but Brunson is out there game in and game out leading the team on a much cheaper deal without any of the extra stuff.
Health, maturity/leadership and contract are points in JB’s favor
the messiah