Getty Jalen Brunson #11 of the New York Knicks high fives fans as he leaves the court after the game against the Chicago Bulls.
New York Knicks All-Star point guard Jalen Brunson finally addressed the “1A” criticisms hurled against him during his career season that ended in a second-round playoff loss to the Indiana Pacers.
“I believe that I can help a team win. Do I have to be the best player? If that’s my role, I mean, of course, I’m gonna do the best in that ability. But I’m not,” Brunson said in an interview with Bleacher Report’s Taylor Rooks on June 13.
I’m not dying to be the best player. I’m not dying for that recognition, to be the person who needs all that attention for just himself. I’m a person who will gladly contribute to winning. I’m the person who gladly puts the team on my back if I have to.
I don’t need that title. I want the title ‘champion.’ That’s all that matters to me. And so whatever has been said about that I can’t be the best player or not, whatever I can, can I help my team win? And I haven’t done that yet but I want to and that’s all I care about.”
Brunson contributed to winning in New York since his arrival as a free agent in the summer of 2022. The Knicks have reached the second round of the playoffs in each of his first two seasons with the team as their starting point guard.
But two-time WNBA champion coach Becky Hammon believed Brunson is “too small” to become the Knicks’ 1A star to end their championship drought.
“Jalen Brunson is too small,” on December 21, on “NBA Today. “My philosophy, if your best player is small, you’re not winning [championships].”
Knicks Still Missing ‘1A’ Star
The Knicks’ consecutive second-round playoff exit only reinforced Hammon’s assessment of Brunson.
“They’re not getting into that [elite] tier,” Hammon said. “They don’t have enough personnel. They don’t have the manpower that they need to hang with those guys.
I think you’re going to get a consistent team like they’ve been a pretty good team. They’re well-coached. They’re going to be on their defensive game but at the end of the day, they don’t have a dude. You got to have a dude — a 1A dude and they’re missing that.”
The conversations would have been different if Julius Randle and OG Anunoby were healthy in their postseason run. They were 14-2 in January when Brunson, Randle and Anunoby were in the lineup.
Would they have beaten the Pacers? Would they have beaten the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals?
These hypotheticals put the Knicks in a tricky spot this offseason.
Trading for ‘1A’ Star
With Brunson’s admission that he’s not dying to become a 1A star makes him a 1B who puts the Knicks closer to a championship but still needs that one last piece to get them over the hump.
The Knicks are looking for that ‘1A’ star trade this offseason, according to The Athletic’s Fred Katz.
“The organization is still targeting the upcoming summer as the time to trade for the next big name, league sources tell The Athletic,” Katz wrote on May 19. “A year from now, the Knicks will become more expensive. Financially, and with the current collective bargaining agreement, this summer is the time for a star trade.”
The Knicks could become a first-apron team if they bring back their top free agents Anunoby and Isaiah Hartenstein on expensive deals which will make trading for a star next season or during the 2025 summer trickier than today.