Is Jalen Brunson a top 3 best Knicks player ever?

[Nowoco]

Probably. The Knicks' list of star players all-time is the weakest, pound for pound, of any team in the league.

[Kblaze8855]

He isn’t better than Bernard King was and Bernard isn’t a top 3 Knick either. The Knicks history isn’t as rich as they want you to believe it is but they have had multiple legitimate MVP candidate players. Jalen isn’t that. It’s not inconceivable he could be but as of now?

and there are lots of players who have scored a lot on a conference finals run. You wouldn’t even recognize all of their names. I’m sure you could point out statistical differences that would have a lot to do with the era, but the bottom line of what’s happening isn’t the kind of unprecedented I feel it’s being made out to be.

It’s a great one man army run. What that looks like will vary statistically depending on the era. It’s definitely great. But I don’t know how to put it over someone like Reed who was on such a deep lineup and also had to play great defense. Being surrounded by role players gives the star more room to be productive, but less likelihood of winning.

it’s always gonna come down to numbers versus winning, but I don’t see how he’s a top 3 Knick of all time either way. Reed and Ewing had more well rounded numbers and King scored his ass off on wild efficiency too.

[tontoz]

King averaged 35 ppg in the playoffs, shooting 57.4%, way back in '84.

[bdonovan]

He might be.

His statline is comparable to Walt Frazier.

Separately, his post-up game reminds me of Mark Jackson- another oversized Knicks guard who played in the paint.

[John8204]

He had one great season and he is already one of the top 3 Knicks of all-time? Ever heard of Walt Frazier, Earl Monroe, Willis Reed, Bill Bradley, Bernard King, Patrick Ewing, Latrell Sprewell,Carmelo Anthony, etc.? I find it amusing when fans get carried away like this.

Jerry Lucas, Walt Bellamy, Dave Debuscherre, Harry Gallatin, Tom Gola, Richie Guerinn, Dick McGuire, and Carl Braun.

He's doing an incredible job this season...but he's not a Hall of Famer and he's made 1 All-Star team.

[Real Men Wear Green]

The moment you wrote "Book" you should have stopped yourself. Look, I'm a Knick hater and I empathize. Unfortunately Brunson is hot right now. Wait until next series, hope they face an opponent that can defend him, and then as soon a he had a game where he shoots under 45% go nuts as if that's his whole career. Read your hater handbook.

[bizil]

Brunson is definitely a lock for top 10 pg this season and probably going forward. No doubt about it.

If you list ALL THE PG's in the league at their best as of right now, I can't say FOR SURE Brunson is a top 10 PG in the league. Could he be? HELL YA! But he's not a lock top 10 PG for me. BECAUSE of the incredible depth at the PG position. You got Steph, Luka, Book (his primary position was PG this year), SGA, Dame, Ja, Fox, Halli, Trae, Murray, and Maxey for example. THAT'S 11 right there I would take over Brunson! If Ja WASN'T suspended for part of this year and didn't get hurt later, there is NO QUESTION Ja WOULD HAVE PROVED he's a superior player to Brunson. Once again Brunson COULD BE a top 10 PG in the league. BUT with the PG's I named, NO WAY can I say he's a lock top 10 PG. Like some of the other guys I mentioned. BUT he's good enough to where he can AT LEAST BE ARGUED as such. I give JB his props for that!

[fsvr54]

He isn’t better than Bernard King was and Bernard isn’t a top 3 Knick either. The Knicks history isn’t as rich as they want you to believe it is but they have had multiple legitimate MVP candidate players. Jalen isn’t that. It’s not inconceivable he could be but as of now?

and there are lots of players who have scored a lot on a conference finals run. You wouldn’t even recognize all of their names. I’m sure you could point out statistical differences that would have a lot to do with the era, but the bottom line of what’s happening isn’t the kind of unprecedented I feel it’s being made out to be.

It’s a great one man army run. What that looks like will vary statistically depending on the era. It’s definitely great. But I don’t know how to put it over someone like Reed who was on such a deep lineup and also had to play great defense. Being surrounded by role players gives the star more room to be productive, but less likelihood of winning.

it’s always gonna come down to numbers versus winning, but I don’t see how he’s a top 3 Knick of all time either way. Reed and Ewing had more well rounded numbers and King scored his ass off on wild efficiency too.

Of course he is. He was top 5 in many people's MVP ballot

[Kblaze8855]

In the way Joakim Noah was sure. Though Noah finished higher in voting than Brunson.

Neither were true candidates.

[BarberSchool]

He has been put in a position with Randle and Annenoby out, where his only other reliable big time scorer in Dante.

So his numbers are, by necessity. With a full roster, his solo numbers would be much less, and then the fantasy/stat-nerds wouldn’t drastically overrate him. He’s a really good player, and a very difficult cover… but it’s waaaay early to call him one of the best Knicks ever. He had a great season, and a really great post-season, with only a few terrible games every so often.

But his numbers wouldn’t be this insane with a better squad with a fully healthy roster.

[NBAGOAT]

i mean we saw brunsons numbers with a healthy team last year. they werent as insane but he was all star lvl last year and also just got better this year. not a true mvp candidate but this year is on the lvl of knicks melo likely better with his playmaking too.

[fsvr54]

Brunson is a true MVP candidate despite what some scrubs on a message board think. Second best guard in the league, maybe the best.

[jayfan]

I won't speak as to ever, but for me he's the most dominant Knick since Bernard King.

And he's not below King, either. Not with what he's doing in this series.

[Kblaze8855]

Brunson is a true MVP candidate despite what some scrubs on a message board think. Second best guard in the league, maybe the best.

If you want to stretch “true” to include people who absolutely don’t get the votes. Like I said…he’s a “true” candidate like Noah was. Only Noah finished higher in the voting. “True” like Parker. Or Peja. Who also finished higher.

Not “true” as in someone who gets more than a respectful acknowledgment on the outside of the “Who are you voting for to win?” discussion.

[RogueBorg]

I think he is if we’re going by best player as a Knick for a single season, but if we’re putting longevity into account he hasn’t been in ny long enough, so it’s Reed, Frazier and Ewing.

It's not even enough for 1 season. If he's not making all-NBA 1st-Team (which he won't), if he's not taking the Knicks to the Finals, then it's over. Ewing>Brunson. You'll have a 2nd-Team All-NBA player losing in the Conference Finals as the best Knick ever...sounds like Bron reasoning.