Jalen Brunson enjoyed the most incredible season of his career with the New York Knicks in 2025-26. However, with more milestones still to reach, Brunson has plenty to pursue heading into the new season.
Former NBA champion and current analyst Kendrick Perkins recently offered Brunson advice, sparking plenty of reactions across the NBA.
Brunson played a big role in leading the New York Knicks to their first NBA championship in 53 years, as they defeated the San Antonio Spurs 4-1 in the Finals. Despite facing plenty of pressure throughout their playoff journey, the Knicks found a way to deliver when it mattered most.
With the majority of their championship-winning core returning, New York heads into the new season with a better understanding of what is required to compete at the highest level.
Amid this, Perkins believes Brunson could have a different priority in mind heading into the upcoming season: helping OG Anunoby earn his first All-Star selection.
"I got some advice, you know what you could do? At the start of training camp, well beyond training camp, you go up to OG, and you tell OG, 'Hey bro, real talk, this year I'm gonna make you a (expletive) All-Star. You are going to be in the All-Star Game this year, I'm going to make sure of that,'" Perkins said.
The suggestion resonated with Knicks fans, who shared their thoughts.
"A Maxxed out OG is Kawhi (Leonard).. So I see the vision," a fan said.
"Knicks fan we need to make OG an all star this year!!!! We owe him, and God knows he deserves it," one said.
"This what I been saying! Imo more of a Mike Brown thing than Jalen, but other guys on the team need more opportunities to step up and play bigger roles. JC (a bucket and great defender), Mikal (Bridges) (can be a great facilitator when the context fits), (Mohamed) Diawara (goes without saying), etc," a netizen said.
Anunoby was an important part of New York's championship campaign last season, averaging 16.7 ppg during the regular season and 20.1 ppg during the playoffs.
The spotlight has been on Anunoby ever since he delivered one of the biggest comebacks in NBA Finals history with a game-winning tip-in in Game 4. That performance fueled the belief that he could finally receive the All-Star recognition that has eluded him, especially if Brunson makes an effort to get him more involved.
However, not everyone agreed with Perkins' assessment.
"LeBron (James) back in the east, it's not happening," a fan said.
"Advice for Jalen Brunson: never take advise from Kendrick Perkins," one user remarked.
"Nah, OG is injury-prone. needs to save his legs, so I don't really like that, honestly. Bad advice. maybe Josh Hart having more stats or something like that," another added.
The Knicks have already shown they know what it takes to win a championship. Their next challenge will be finding the right balance between collective success and giving their key players enough opportunities to grow individually.
This article originally appeared on Pro Football Network .
