Jalen Brunson has insisted that he isn't at all miffed about his All-Star snub. The day after the East reserves were announced, Brunson, ever the leader, turned the focus to how happy he was for his Knicks teammate, Julius Randle, who made his second career All-Star team.
"As for myself, I control what I can control, and [being named an All-Star is] something I can't," Brunson told reporters.
These are all the right things to say. But do we believe him? Back in 2012-13, Stephen Curry was famously snubbed of his first All-Star berth. Like Brunson, he wasn't vocal about it bothering him, but he finished that season on a scorcher that felt every bit like the work of a man with a point to prove.
Coincidence? Perhaps. But I find it doubtful. There's no way this kind of slight doesn't at least pour a little gas on the already raging competitive fire of a proud professional athlete.
The Eastern Conference All-Star reserves were announced on Feb. 3. The next night, Brunson had 41 points on 14-of-19 shooting. All told, the Knicks have played seven games since the snub, winning five to shoot above the East's postseason play-in line.
Over that span, Brunson has scored a league-high 223 points. Do the math, and that's 32 points a night on 60 percent shooting, including 50 percent from 3, with an almost a 4-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio.
And this, to be clear, isn't some recent development. Brunson has been awesome all season. He's one of two guys putting up at least 23 points and six rebounds on better than 41 percent 3-point shooting. The other is Stephen Curry.
Since Jan. 1, only Damian Lillard has scored points more than Brunson's 654, which he has registered on better than 51 percent shooting, including 47 percent from 3 on more than five attempts per game. For the season, only De'Aaron Fox has scored more clutch points than Brunson, who has made 50 percent of his shots when the game is within five points with five or fewer minutes to play.
"I love his humility," Tom Thibodeau said of Brunson. "He knows how good he is. He doesn't need other people to tell him."
Indeed, Thibodeau and the Knicks know who their best player is. The question is: do these "other people" truly know how good Brunson is? The All-Star snub would suggest not.
To look at the Knicks becoming a potential top-six seed this season and think that Randle -- no disrespect -- has had more to do with their success than Brunson is hard to imagine. Brunson has changed this entire team, which is on pace to win 45 games, eight more than last year.
To put that leap into perspective, the Cleveland Cavaliers are on pace to win nine more games than they did last season. Donovan Mitchell has been properly credited as the changed variable in that equation, and he has, as a result, found himself on the fringes of MVP discussions. Brunson isn't having the year Mitchell is, but he's not far off.
Speaking of massive leaps, the Knicks, who ranked 21st in offensive efficiency last season, are sixth so far this year, per Cleaning the Glass, scoring almost seven more points (110.7 to 117.2) per 100 possessions. With Brunson on the floor, that rating goes to 119.6 points per 100, which would rank No. 1 in the league.
When the Knicks come out of the All-Star break (Friday night against the Wizards), they'll be tied in the loss column with the No. 7 Heat. Both teams are three games back of the No. 5 seed, and three games up on the No. 8 seed. There's a good shot that the Knicks and Heat will be in a direct battle for the 6-7 seeds -- one solidifying a playoff spot, and one having to go through the play-in -- the rest of the way, with three matchups left and New York carrying a 1-0 head-to-head advantage.
All things considered, this is a terrific place to be for the Knicks, who have been to the playoffs just once in the last 10 seasons but are really starting to build something. They have eight trade-eligible draft picks and a franchise player in Brunson, who, if we know anything from his decorated college career and four-plus years in the league so far, is going to continue to play like a guy with a point to prove.
