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LAS VEGAS — When we talk about NBA unicorns, we tend to speak to something we’ve never seen before, a player unlike any other. We compare it to history, what we know. We ponder if this player is the first version of this we’ve laid eyes on.
Knicks guard Jalen Brunson might not be a unicorn by definition. However, the game has done its darnedest to make players like him extinct. Maybe it’s safe to call him a modern-day unicorn.
Teams of today are turning over every stone, scouring every corner of the Earth to get ballhandlers, initiators, creators — whatever you want to call them — who are at least 6-foot-6. The NBA is riddled with them, and they’re still coveted. Teams are rolling out starting lineups with players who are, at minimum, 6-foot-5 across the board. The game’s lineups are bigger than ever.
What the NBA doesn’t have much of anymore are guys like Brunson, sub-6-foot-1 guards who score with the volume of Sterling Archer. It used to. Allen Iverson. Isaiah Thomas. Brunson isn’t quite one-of-one, but he’s close. And don’t let the NBA’s official listing fool you. Brunson isn’t 6-foot-2.
That’s why when you watch Brunson have outings like the one from Saturday’s NBA Cup semifinal win over the Magic — 40 points on 16-of-27 shooting — it feels like it’s time to say the quiet part out loud: Brunson, pound for pound, is the NBA’s best scorer.
“He’s smart, man,” said Orlando guard Jalen Suggs, one of the better point-of-attack defenders in the NBA. “He’s got good pace, and he’s really smart. He doesn’t really get too bored with the game. He doesn’t get too bored keeping it simple. He challenges you every possession.
“He’s one of the best players in our league. I love the fact that we get to play him four times a year. I’ve gotten better from our battles.”
What Brunson is doing isn’t a flash in the pan or a cute moment for small guards. This isn’t the Boston Celtics’ Isaiah Thomas. Brunson, who is averaging 28.8 points per game season, hasn’t averaged less than 24 points in a season since he came to New York four years ago and became the focal point of an offense. He hasn’t averaged less than 26 points over the last three years.
Right now, only seven NBA players average more points than Brunson. Five of those guys are 6-foot-5 and taller. Two of them, Philadelphia’s Tyrese Maxey and Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell, are, like Brunson, listed at 6-foot-2 — and both of their listings might be generous, as well. However, both Maxey and Mitchell carry athletic gifts that Brunson doesn’t. Maxey is as fast a player as there is with the ball. Mitchell can jump out of the gym.
There are several players currently in the league who can score as well as any of the players the game has ever seen. Brunson, though, is often doing it against players three inches taller or 10, 20 pounds heavier. It’s not as often that the Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander or the Lakers’ Luka Dončić are being guarded by defenders much bigger than them.
We’ve established that there are players who, literally, score more than Brunson. And, yes, Maxey and Mitchell are also representing smaller scoring guards well. Yet, when you factor it all in — Brunson’s the smallest of these players in his scoring class, he’s the least athletic guard of those players, he’s got good efficiency and he’s flirting with averaging 30 points per game — he’s the best at putting the ball in the basket.
“He’s a barely 6-foot guard, he’s not physically impressive and not athletic,” said his teammate and honest friend, Josh Hart. “He’s able to manipulate a defense. He’s got a big head, so he’s got a big brain and able to figure out his game and put himself in position to be successful.
“Inch for inch, I think he’s probably the best.”
Brunson’s herky-jerky style is what separates him from a lot of his counterparts. He’s not quick but may look it at times, because his scatterbrain dribble, powerful crossover, body fakes and footwork keep defenders off balance and allow him to get past those who have physical advantages.
The footwork part, especially, is what makes Brunson a special player. His ability to play off two feet allows him to create shooting angles that other players don’t have. It allows him to always be on balance while defenders are trying to predict his next move.
That part of Brunson’s game has been with him since he was in the fifth grade.
“I always played against (people) older than my age when I was younger,” said Brunson, who has scored 30-plus points in four straight games. “I had to be deceptive. I had to be crafty. That footwork lasts a long time. It’s (been a focus) since fifth or sixth grade, really. That was the start of it.”
Mike Brown has coached some of the greatest scorers the NBA has seen since 2000. He’s not in the business of comparing Brunson to those guys, but he’s mentioned a few times that Brunson’s footwork rivals that of Kobe Bryant. Brown does, though, see a few common threads between the likes of Brunson, Bryant, LeBron James, Steph Curry and others who he has coached when it comes to the art of scoring the basketball.
“They have a relentlessness to them where they just keep coming and coming,” the Knicks coach said. “That’s their competitive spirit coming out. They get denied, they get doubled, they get hit, but they just keep coming. When you have that, you know your team is in good hands, because at the end of the day, no matter what defense you see, no matter how physical your opponent is, he’s going to be right there.
“And he’s confident. That gives everyone — not just his teammates on the floor but his teammates on the bench, the coaching staff — the confidence he has breathes into everyone else.”
There are a handful of players every year who could seriously be in the conversation as the game’s current best scorer. A strong case like this one could be made for every single one of them and there shouldn’t be a huge uproar. The game is in great hands, and skill is at an all-time high.
My money, though, is on the efficient, compact guard who, after winning Clutch Player of the Year last season, turned around this season and is the second-leading scorer in first quarters. My money is on the guy who might finish fourth to last in team sprints but can get himself open at any moment. My money is on the guy who can knock down a jumper with a hand in his face or without one. My money is on the guy who might not be able to jump over a phone book but still finds his shot dropping into the net in traffic.
Pound for pound, when it comes to who is the best scorer in the NBA, my money is on Brunson.
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James L. Edwards III is a staff writer for The Athletic covering the New York Knicks. Previously, he covered the Detroit Pistons at The Athletic for seven seasons and, before that, was a reporter for the Lansing State Journal, where he covered Michigan State and high school sports. Follow James L. on Twitter @JLEdwardsIII
