New York superstar point guard Jalen Brunson proved his critics wrong when he led the Knicks to victory in the 2026 NBA Finals. Not only did the franchise end a 53-year title drought, but Brunson also won Finals MVP, joining Isiah Thomas, Tony Parker , and Steph Curry as the only players 6'2″ or shorter to win the award.
But despite all that, plus the fact that Brunson scored 45 points in the closeout Game 5, ESPN only ranked him 6th overall in its preseason player rankings, putting Nikola Jokic , Victor Wembanyama , Shai Gilgeous-Alexander , Luka Doncic , and Giannis Antetokounmpo ahead of him on the list. However, former Los Angeles Lakers star Lamar Odom disagrees.
"How you gon' be six if you won a championship?" Odom questioned . "Gotta be one or two."
The Knicks faced the San Antonio Spurs in the 2026 NBA Finals. Because of that, the two best players on the last two teams standing should be the Top 2 players in the league, or so Odom argues.
And, following Odom's logic, it was the Knicks who won the championship last season, beating the Spurs 4-1, and it was Brunson who took home Finals MVP honors after averaging 32.6 points, 4.2 rebounds, 4.6 assists, and 2.0 steals per game in the championship series. When he was asked for his Top 5 list, Odom obliged.
"Him, Wemby, Shai, Joker, and Giannis. It's hard. They're all great. You can't compare greatness."
Meanwhile, one ESPN analyst disagreed with his colleagues' list as written. Using analytics to come up with his own list. According to Dean Oliver, Brunson is closer to the bottom of the Top 25 than to the Top 5, based on the analytics and specialized stats he used to develop his own rankings.
"I love Brunson's game, but his lofty ranking benefited not only from recent bias but also from the New York media bias. (That bias might also help you forget that Brunson missed the shot in the most iconic image from the Finals, when OG Anunoby swooped in for the putback game-winner to clinch Game 4.)" Oliver wrote .
"The metrics place Brunson around the No. 25 range heading into the season. That's not a huge gap. He's elite, just not No. 6 – at least not during the regular season."
Ultimately, Oliver is entitled to his own list and his opinion. But Brunson at No.25? That's crazier than saying he is No.1.
Sure, analytics data rarely lies, and the numbers are backed by science. However, at the end of the day, one does not have to be a die-hard Knicks fan to objectively deduce that it's borderline blasphemous to argue there were 24 players better than Jalen Brunson last season. Especially not after they just won the 2026 NBA Finals in one of the greatest postseason runs in recent history.
This story was originally published by Basketball Network on Sep 28, 2026, where it first appeared in the Latest News section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
