Jalen Brunson has fallen victim, again, to "too small to be the best player on a championship team" critiques. This argument, originally popularized by Becky Hammon in 2023, seems like it will never stop unless the captain raises a banner in The Garden.
This time around, Celtics legend Paul Pierce is the one echoing Hammon's sentiment. On an episode of the No Fouls Given podcast posted on Tuesday, Pierce used past NBA champions as a benchmark for the Knicks' goal of Brunson leading the team to a chip.
There's only one problem with Pierce's assertion: it sounded sensible in the moment, but isn't necessarily backed up by reality.
Jalen Brunson's size has never been main factor holding Knicks back
Brunson's performance in last season's playoffs was up to par with the best players on championship teams. In fact, he logged the same points + assists per game (36.4) as the best player on the team that won the NBA finals, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Brunson finished the postseason averaging the 5th most points per game (29.4) and the fourth most assists per game (7.0). Out of players who played double-digit playoff games, he finished second in both categories.
That didn't seem to factor into Pierce's analysis of New York's star point guard.
“In order for the Knicks to make a run, they need to find a player that’s better than Jalen Brunson. Your best player can’t be 6-foot-2 on a championship team. Tell me what championship team’s best player was [6'2], just Steph [Curry]," said Pierce. "You have to go Isiah [Thomas], you have to go Steph. If your best player is 6'2, it’s going to be tough for you to win a championship. It’s just, throughout history, you can only name two teams that their best player was 6'2.”
During New York's postseason run in 2025, Brunson led each series in points per game. He also scored the most clutch points in the playoffs (56) by a wide margin, along with posting the highest plus-minus during clutch minutes (+37). The crafty point guard's size has certainly not stopped him from earning the nickname, "Captain Clutch."
If the Knicks want to blame anything for falling short of an NBA Finals appearance in 2025, it should be their depth. The Pacers outscored them by a whopping 15 points per game off the bench in the series.
The Knicks have never lost a playoff series because Brunson wasn't the best player on either squad throughout the series.
Despite the proof, Brunson only has one option to silence his haters
Although the numbers suggest Brunson is doing enough to lead his team to a championship, the reality is that he's never been to an NBA Finals. Whether he is to blame for that or not, critics like Pierce and Hammon can say their argument is ultimately right in the end unless Brunson raises a Larry O'Brien trophy,
The Knicks have an improved bench from last season, and their offensive and defensive numbers have climbed the ranks since 2024-25. They seem to be running out of excuses for coming up short of a title. Brunson's track record suggests he isn't the main reason the Knicks haven't reached the promised land.
But he has his biggest opportunity yet to put the "too short" debate to rest this upcoming postseason.