Brunson enters the season as a champion and Finals MVP, yet his place among the NBA’s best players remains a point of debate.
Jalen Brunson has an NBA championship and a Finals MVP award. Kendrick Perkins thinks those accomplishments should carry more weight when people rank the league’s best players entering the 2026-27 season.
Perkins challenged the skepticism surrounding Brunson after the New York Knicks guard was placed outside the top five in a preseason player ranking.
His broader point is difficult to dismiss: Brunson was the central offensive player on a team that won the title, then delivered when that team needed him most in the Finals.
The disagreement comes down to what a ranking is meant to measure. A list focused on physical tools or projections for the coming season might favor other stars. A list that gives substantial weight to playoff production and proven leadership has to make room for Brunson’s championship run.
A case built in June
Brunson did not merely play on a title team. He led New York’s offense through its postseason run and earned Finals MVP honors as the Knicks defeated the San Antonio Spurs. His 45-point performance in the deciding Game 5 gave that run a defining finish.
That performance strengthened a résumé he had already built as New York’s lead guard. During the 2025-26 regular season, Brunson averaged 26.0 points and 6.8 assists per game.
Those numbers show his value over a full schedule; the playoff run showed he could remain the focal point against teams preparing specifically to stop him.
Perkins has argued for Brunson before. Supporting a player after a title is easy, but the championship also supplied an answer to one of the biggest questions once attached to him: whether a team led by a guard of his size could win at the highest level. New York did.
Jun 10, 2026; New York, New York, USA; New York Knicks guardJalenBrunson(11) brings the ball up court against San Antonio Spurs forward Julian Champagnie (30) during the second quarter of game four of the 2026 NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn ImagesWhere the debate remains
None of that makes a top-five ranking automatic. The league has several players with strong claims, and ordering them requires judgment about scoring, playmaking, defense, availability and postseason results. Reasonable analysts can weigh those factors differently.
Still, treating Brunson’s title as a team accomplishment while holding his size or style against him would miss his role in winning it.
The Knicks repeatedly trusted him to create offense under pressure. He produced throughout the season and finished it with the sport’s highest team prize and its Finals MVP award.
Brunson now faces a new challenge. Opponents have another offseason to study the champion Knicks, and repeating will demand adjustments from the entire roster. His place on a preseason list will have no effect on that work.
Perkins’ criticism is a reminder that Brunson’s case should start with what he has done. Anyone leaving him outside the top five can make that argument, but after New York’s championship run, it needs to account for the evidence Brunson supplied on the court.
