When you win an NBA championship, you get a summer to puff up your chest and talk your talk. In the final month of the offseason, the New York Knicks are going through that. After a mundane 53-29 regular season, they had one of the most dominant playoff runs ever.
The Knicks went a sizzling 16-3. That included a historic 13-game winning streak that featured blowout wins left and right. Everything clicked for New York. Jalen Brunson penciled his name in basketball lore. Karl-Anthony Towns had the last laugh with all his haters. And OG Anunoby is basically a New York deity thanks to his Game 4 tip-in win.
Now, Knicks fans are getting daring with their takes. That's what happens when you're sitting on the NBA throne. You've earned the right to say
the most outlandish things ever and make them somewhat plausible. In recent days, we've seen that with Brunson being better than Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
That 100-degree opinion has made the rounds on social media in recent days. Sports media personalities like Max Kellerman and Shannon Sharpe explained their reasoning recently for why Brunson's NBA championship ring has helped him usurp Gilgeous-Alexander in the league rankings.
Here's what both had to say:
Max Kellerman
"SGA and Jalen Brunson play the same position, modern NBA, pick-and-roll, foul-baiting point guards. They both have the same team. San Antonio deployed the same defensive scheme to stop that guy. It worked on SGA. SGA is a great player, of course. But they did it to Brunson and it worked the first two games. But because Brunson is better than SGA, meaning he’s more valuable than SGA. He was able to make adjustments. It’s because Jalen Brunson’s basketball brain was working overtime."
Max Kellerman Deems Jalen Brunson better than Shai Gilgeous-Alexander:
— JayTakes (@SportsWithJay0) August 28, 2026
“SGA and Jalen Brunson play the same position, modern NBA, pick and roll, foul baiting point guards. They both have the same team. San Antonio deployed, the same defensive scheme to stop that guy it worked on… pic.twitter.com/4yCXOhpd0o
Shannon Sharpe
"I think me personally, Brunson’s championship is more valuable than Shai’s MVP."
Shannon Sharpe on Tracy McGrady comments saying MVP means more than a championship:
— NBA Courtside (@NBA__Courtside) August 28, 2026
“I think me personally, I think Brunson’s championship is more valuable than Shai’s MVP. 53 years in New York, a man his size. Guys his size don’t lead teams to championships. Not his size. 6’2… pic.twitter.com/Ga8BOidaPB
Thoughts
Now, is Brunson truly a better player than Gilgeous-Alexander now? No. Not really. Just stack their resumes next to each other. Gilgeous-Alexander is a two-time MVP winner and one of the greatest scorers ever. He's averaged 30-plus points on superb-efficiency for four consecutive years. Oh, and he has a championship ring in hand, too. The 28-year-old had an unconventional path to NBA superstardom. But now, he's quickly climbed the all-time ranks and often shares feats with guys like Michael Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain.
I think Brunson was superb in the past NBA playoffs. He stepped up as a 28-point scorer and won the 2026 NBA Finals MVP. But his trophy case just isn't as stuffed as Gilgeous-Alexander's. For comparison, Brunson has never averaged 30 points and his highest career MVP voting finish was fifth place. Before New York's title run, both players weren't even in the same stratosphere. Now, that's completely changed? I don't know about that.
I get that the Knicks are enjoying the high of winning a Larry O'Brien trophy, but let's slow down with the 'Brunson over Gilgeous-Alexander' talk. He wasn't even New York's undisputed best player in the NBA playoffs. Towns and Anunoby also had their respective moments under the sun. There's no real way to build up a case for Brunson over Gilgeous-Alexander. He just doesn't have the same peaks or track record of success to put up a plausible argument.
This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Is Jalen Brunson better than Shai Gilgeous-Alexander?
