{"id":69859,"date":"2024-03-22T14:20:06","date_gmt":"2024-03-22T18:20:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=69859"},"modified":"2024-03-22T14:20:06","modified_gmt":"2024-03-22T18:20:06","slug":"former-nba-champion-shares-hot-take-about-knicks-star-kendrick-perkins-jalen-brunson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/03\/22\/former-nba-champion-shares-hot-take-about-knicks-star-kendrick-perkins-jalen-brunson\/","title":{"rendered":"Former NBA Champion Shares Hot Take About Knicks Star"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>ESPN personality and one-time NBA champion with the Boston Celtics <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/p\/perkike01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-03-22_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kendrick Perkins<\/a> is evidently a big fan of New York Knicks All-Star <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/brunsja01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-03-22_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jalen Brunson<\/a>. On Friday&#8217;s episode of First Take, Perkins said he wouldn&#8217;t take a single point guard in the game right now over Brunson. Furthermore, Perkins specifically named <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/c\/curryst01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-03-22_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Stephen Curry<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/g\/gilgesh01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-03-22_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Shai Gilgeous-Alexander<\/a> as two guys he would rather have Brunson over.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Perk: \u201cNo disrespect to Steph Curry. No disrespect to SGA. But I\u2019m not taking anybody over Jalen Brunson\u2026Right now he is the best point guard in the game in my opinion when it comes to being a floor manager &amp; a floor general\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/oof4LLPY0k\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/oof4LLPY0k<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 New York Basketball (@NBA_NewYork) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NBA_NewYork\/status\/1771203766462636532?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 22, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2>Former NBA Champion Shares Hot Take About Knicks Star<\/h2>\n<h3>Jalen Brunson Deserves Kendrick Perkins&#8217; Praise&#8230;<\/h3>\n<p>In his second season with the New York Knicks, Brunson is enjoying the best year of his career. On the season, Brunson is averaging 27.5 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 6.5 assists per game. Furthermore, the Villanova alum is shooting 47.8% from the field and 39.9% from beyond the arc. Brunson&#8217;s season has not gone unnoticed either. The 27-year-old made it to his first <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/02\/01\/nba-news-2024-all-star-reserves-announced\/\" target=\"_self\">All-Star team<\/a> this season and could bring home a few end-of-season accolades as well. Additionally, Golden State Warriors and Team USA head coach <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/k\/kerrst01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-03-22_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Steve Kerr<\/a> recently spoke about <a href=\"https:\/\/hoopshype.com\/rumor\/steve-kerr-jalen-brunson-high-on-team-usas-list\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">wanting Brunson to join Team USA this year<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cThere\u2019s a reason he\u2019s on our list. Because he\u2019s a great, great player and high character, a leader,\u201d Kerr said. \u201cHe\u2019s everything you want as a player. He\u2019s high on our list and he\u2019s definitely somebody we\u2019re considering.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Despite a multitude of injuries to key players like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/r\/robinmi01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-03-22_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mitchell Robinson<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/r\/randlju01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-03-22_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Julius Randle<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/a\/anunoog01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-03-22_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">OG Anunoby<\/a>, the Knicks seem destined to make it to the playoffs this season. This is in large part due to Brunson&#8217;s impressive play. Currently, the Knicks have a 41-28 record and own the No. 5 seed in the Eastern Conference.<\/p>\n<h3>&#8230;But Does He Compare to Stephen Curry and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander?<\/h3>\n<p>There is no denying <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/03\/17\/jalen-brunson-becomes-fourth-knick-ever-to-achieve-scoring-feat\/\" target=\"_self\">Brunson<\/a> is doing tremendous work on the basketball court this season. However, it&#8217;s not fair to immediately put him ahead of Curry, a future Hall of Famer, or Gilgeous-Alexander, a top MVP candidate this year. Here&#8217;s a <a href=\"https:\/\/stathead.com\/basketball\/versus-finder.cgi?request=1&amp;seasons_type=forall&amp;year_min=2024&amp;year_max=2024&amp;player_id1=brunsja01&amp;player_id2=curryst01&amp;player_id3=gilgesh01\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">general statistical breakdown<\/a> of these three All-Stars:<\/p>\n<p>Brunson &#8211; 27.5 points, 3.6 rebounds, <strong>6.5 assists per game<\/strong>, 47.8 FG%, and 39.9 3pt%<\/p>\n<p>Curry &#8211; 26.8 points, 4.4 rebounds, 4.9 assists per game, 45 FG%, and <strong>40.5 3pt%<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Gilgeous-Alexander &#8211; <strong>30.9 points<\/strong>, <strong>5.6 rebounds<\/strong>, 6.4 assists per game, <strong>54.4 FG%<\/strong>, and 37.6 3pt%. (Furthermore, Gilgeous-Alexander leads the NBA with <strong>2.1 steals per game<\/strong>).<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, while none of these guards are necessarily elite defenders, Brunson is arguably the worst defender of the three.<\/p>\n<h3>Is Kendrick Perkins Right About Jalen Brunson?<\/h3>\n<p>Brunson is an amazing player who should only get better with the Knicks. He has a long career ahead of him and is showing flashes of stardom this season. However, there are a few point guards in the league who are better than Brunson. Furthermore, Perkins praised Brunson&#8217;s ability as &#8220;a floor manager and a floor general.&#8221; While this is fair, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/halibty01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-03-22_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tyrese Haliburton<\/a> is arguably a better floor general than Brunson.<\/p>\n<p>In all, it&#8217;s tough to agree with Perkins here. Brunson is a great fit in New York. However, there are other point guards the average NBA fan would rather have on their team to win an NBA championship.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>ESPN personality and one-time NBA champion with the Boston Celtics Kendrick Perkins is evidently a big fan of New York Knicks All-Star Jalen Brunson. On Friday&#8217;s episode of First Take, Perkins said he wouldn&#8217;t take a single point guard in the game right now over Brunson. Furthermore, Perkins specifically named Stephen Curry and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4631,"featured_media":69865,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[12,1608,5,2,25,11,62,3,22],"tags":[1417,510,3215,1616,1082,1489,48,528,2607],"class_list":["post-69859","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-knicks","category-basketball","category-celtics","category-featured","category-warriors","category-pacers","category-nba","category-news","category-thunder","tag-jalen-brunson","tag-julius-randle","tag-kendrick-perkins","tag-mitchell-robinson","tag-og-anunoby","tag-shai-gilgeous-alexander","tag-stephen-curry","tag-steve-kerr","tag-tyrese-haliburton"],"modified_by":"Elie Deglaoui","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69859","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4631"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69859"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69859\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/69865"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69859"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69859"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69859"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}