Getty Jalen Brunson shows love to the fans.
To say that Allen Iverson was a cultural icon in the game of basketball would be an understatement. He meant so much to so many and changed the way the game would be played moving forward. Being compared to Iverson is a compliment unlike any Jalen Brunson has received so far in his career.
Former NBA All-Star and current New York Knicks MSG broadcaster Wally Szczerbiak made the comparison after watching Brunson’s Game 1 artistry, leading the Knicks with 43 points in a 121-117 win over the Indiana Pacers. Szczerbiak said on the MSG postgame show:
“Allen Iverson was great, Jalen Brunson’s playing better. I’m telling you, this run he is on, what he is doing, with the efficiency he is doing, I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Smh….Wally Szczerbiak had the unmitigated gall to say Brunson is better than Iverson was in 2001….
Allen Iverson in the 2001 NBA Playoffs
More specifically, the comparison is looking at Iverson in 2001, when he took the Philadelphia 76ers to the NBA Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers with a team that started Aaron McKie, Dikembe Mutombo, Tyrone Hill and Jumaine Jones.
The then 25-year-old Iverson averaged 35.6 points per game in the NBA Finals, after scoring 31.5, 33.7 and 30.5 points per game in the 76ers first three playoff series, respectfully. Iverson led the 76ers to a Game 1 upset, playing almost 53 minutes while scoring 48 in a 107-101 overtime win in Los Angeles. The Lakers would go on to win the series in five games.
Jalen Brunson in the 2024 NBA Playoffs
Brunson’s 43 points in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals stand apart from Iverson’s 48 in Game 1 of the NBA Finals due to efficiency. Where Iverson was known as more of a volume shooter (he shot 43.9% in Game 1 and just 40.7% for the series), Brunson has been much better, shooting 53.8% from the field and a perfect 14-for-14 from the foul line.
It’s also not a one-game outlier for Brunson, as he’s shooting 50% from the field while scoring 42 points and racking up 9.4 assists per game over his last five.
The Iverson supporters might point towards the obvious difference between the second round of the playoffs and the last, but the pressure that’s put on the Knicks to return to glory is unlike anything most athletes have to face.
Carmelo Anthony wasn’t shy about the pressure of playing in New York, saying:
“We should feel good about playing here in our home court, playing in the Garden. Sometimes that don’t seem like that’s the case,” Anthony said. “Sometimes it feels like a lot of pressure for guys to play at a very high level here. We should be relaxed, we should be having fun and enjoying playing on our home court. Not having more fun on the road than we do at home.”
Is the Comparison Valid?
In a vacuum, the comparison is valid. Despite Iverson’s 10 playoff games scoring more than 40 points (and three over 50), Brunson’s 5-game playoff stretch is better than anything Iverson was able to put together, not only in 2001 but over his entire playoff career.
Of course, Wally isn’t saying that Brunson is a better player overall than Iverson. AI is a Hall-of-Famer, part of the NBA’s 75th Anniversary Team, a 4x NBA scoring champion and holds the third-best NBA Playoff scoring average at 29.7 points per game (h/t Basketball Reference).
But at least for the last five games (and counting), Brunson is carrying his supporting cast just as good as Iverson ever did.