Jalen Brunson's leadership can't prevent All-Star snub
Jalen Brunson of the Knicks controls the ball in the first half against the Nuggets at Madison Square Garden on Thursday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
What is the ultimate measure of an All-Star?
Is it gaudy statistics? Is it style, the ability to regularly produce the kind of jaw-dropping play that lands you on SportsCenter? Is it having a high-profile national commercial that preaches the virtues of drinking beer and bundling insurance?
Looking at the Eastern Conference All-Star starters who were announced Thursday before the Knicks-Nuggets game, all three seem to have come into play. The one important criterion that didn’t — at least for NBA fans and players — was leadership and the ability to make your team better.
Jalen Brunson deserved to be an All-Star starter. It should have been Brunson, not Milwaukee’s Damian Lillard, who was announced alongside Indiana’s Tyrese Haliburton as the starting guards for the Eastern Conference in next month’s All-Star Game in Indianapolis.
Brunson, who scored 21 points in the Knicks’ shocking 122-84 win over the defending champion Nuggets on Thursday, is having a career year statistically. Heading into the game, he was averaging 26.6 points and 6.5 assists per game and shooting 47.5% overall, including 42.3% from three-point range.
But most importantly, he has been the most important leader on the Knicks since Patrick Ewing.
In less than two seasons, Brunson has given this franchise an edge and attitude that it had lacked for two decades. His competitive fire pushed the Knicks into the second round of the playoffs last season. This season — especially the way the Knicks have been playing lately — it’s not unreasonable to imagine that they could become one of the top three teams in the Eastern Conference.
“We know the impact he has,” coach Tom Thibodeau said before Thursday’s game. “I think he’s deserving. I think Julius Randle is very deserving. I think it’s unique what we have with both of those guys, especially with what they do every day.”
Brunson and Randle still can make the team if they’re chosen by the coaches. The All-Star reserves will be announced on Feb. 1.
Randle is a two-time All-Star and played in last season’s game in Utah. Brunson has never been selected for the team. His absence last season was considered by many to be a snub, and not being selected as a starter this season should be viewed the same way.
“Congratulations to Damian Lillard,” Brunson said after the game. “Dame is deserving.”
Still, Brunson said it “definitely” is a goal of his to play in the game, and his teammates think he belongs there.
“He’s gonna say he doesn’t care. Obviously, we hoped he was going to [make it],” Josh Hart said. “He’s someone who deserves to. But he’s just gonna keep going being him. That’s how he is. He’s gonna keep leading this team.”
Brunson’s and Lillard’s stats are about the same, with Brunson scoring a point more per game. Lillard plays with Giannis Antetokounmpo, a two-time MVP. He also plays with a team that is having more than its fair share of turmoil this season, having fired coach Adrian Griffin despite a 31-13 record and replaced him with Doc Rivers earlier this week.
The NBA starters were determined by a vote of fans, players and select media members, with the fans’ vote weighing 50% and the others 25% each. Only the media votes had Brunson in the top two, as he finished second behind Haliburton. Players voted him third. Fans voted him fifth.
Brunson, however, is the least flashy of superstars. He’s not a human highlight reel. He doesn’t have a national Modelo beer commercial like Lillard. Nor has he ever won an NBA title. Yet there’s so much that he does that impacts a game and a franchise.
Brunson has taken his game to another level since the Knicks traded for OG Anunoby. Since Jan. 1, when Anunoby joined the team on the court, Brunson has ranked fifth in the league in scoring (28.9 points), 10th in assists (7.8) and fifth in plus/minus. Entering Thursday night, he had scored at least 30 points in five straight games and seven out of the last 10.
“He’s a tremendous player,” Denver coach Mike Malone said before the game. “He can hurt you from the three-point line. He gets to the basket. Very shifty and crafty pick-and-rolls. He gets to the foul line over six times per game.
“I’d be hard-pressed to find guys that are ahead of him to be worthy of an All-Star position.”
The Knicks can only hope that Eastern Conference coaches feel the same.
Barbara Barker is an award-winning columnist and features writer in the sports department at Newsday. She has covered sports in New York for more than 20 years.
