“[Jalen Brunson] is too small. If your best player is small, you’re not winning,” Hall of Fame WNBA coach Becky Hammon said during a conversation about the New York Knicks on NBA Today in December of 2023.

Since then, that statement has served as bulletin-board material for the team’s fans. With each passing milestone, Knicks faithful have reminded the world of what Hammon said on live television. And, on Sunday, Brunson stans scored their biggest win yet, with the All-NBA Southpaw leading the team to their first NBA Finals appearance since 1999.

Now, with the Knicks just four wins away from their first NBA Championship in 53 years, it feels like the perfect time to examine just how Brunson made the legendary coach eat her words.

The Perfect Supporting Cast

One of the exceptions to the rule that Hammon cited was Isiah Thomas, the head of the snake on the infamous Bad Boys Pistons. The thing that many people underrate about that iteration of the Detroit Pistons was how well-built their roster was. Joe Dumars and Vinnie Johnson (and later on Mark Aguirre) were secondary scorers/creators who took heat off Thomas. John Salley and Dennis Rodman were do-everything defensive wings. Rick Mahorn, Bill Laimbeer, and James Edwards were the enforcers in the middle.

That’s the part that these absolute statements always miss. Every great player can be built around; it just takes less margin for error for some more than others. Yeah, building a title contender around prime Kawhi Leonard or LeBron James is probably easier than it is with Brunson because of their size, length, and two-way versatility. But Brunson has shown that with smart decision-making and sacrifice (more on this part later), you can also build a winner around him.

After two years worth of growing pains, Karl-Anthony Towns finally seems to be the perfect co-star for Brunson; spacing the floor, attacking closeouts with speed and conviction, and when Brunson needs a bump, initiating offense as the primary passing hub. He’s also playing the most inspired and thoughtful defense of his career, making it even easier for the Knicks to hide Brunson’s diminutive stature.

Any gaps that are left by Brunson/Towns are being filled by the Knicks’ dynamic wing trio of OG Anunoby, Mikal Bridges, and Josh Hart. These three veterans are the perfect embodiment of this Rob Mahoney quote I stumbled upon a few weeks ago:

“Teams don’t win championships when every player is slotted into the perfect, form-fitting role. They win it all when they have a roster so talented that key players are ready for more.”

That is this triumvirate in a nutshell. Anunoby, Bridges, and Hart give you all the ancillary elements you need to reach pure lineup balance (perimeter defense, physicality, spacing, cutting, rim protection), but they all also have the capability of scaling up their primacy from time to time and generating offense off-the-dribble. In Game 3 against the Cleveland Cavaliers, all of them had at least one possession where they turned a possession that was going nowhere into two points for New York.

When those three need a breather, Deuce McBride, Landry Shamet, Jordan Clarkson, and Jose Alvarado are waiting to get their hands dirty. McBride and Clarkson also have the power to create their own offense in a pinch. Mitchell Robinson is one of the most overwhelming forces in basketball, and he can give the Knicks a double-big pitch when necessary.

Team president Leon Rose deserves credit for seeing the puzzle before all the pieces were together. He also should be praised for moving off Tom Thibodeau after the team’s most successful season of the century in favor of Mike Brown. While we have doubted Brown’s acumen at times, it is now abundantly clear that he had the perfect vision for this team. The Knicks’ offense (1st in offensive rating by over three points per 100 possessions this postseason) has reached the illustrious mark of basketball nirvana, and Brown has been able to squeeze just enough creativity and effort from this defense to make up for the team’s two best players not being traditional stalwarts.

Give Jalen Brunson His Flowers

None of this would be possible without the massive $113 million pay cut Brunson took back in the Summer of 2024. Everyone says they will do anything to win, but few players are willing to double down and put their money where their mouth is.

But more than that, Brunson deserves credit for being like the other small guard who helped his team reach the Promised Land: Stephen Curry. The dynastic Golden State Warriors, like the 1980s Pistons, did a great job of acquiring a supporting cast that was narrowly tailored to Curry’s strengths and weaknesses. But Curry transcended his physical limitations by touting a superpower unlike any we’d ever seen before (his shooting).

Brunson, too, wields a special gift. It isn’t as straightforward as being the greatest shooter the game has ever seen, but it is uber-effective nonetheless. Brunson’s style is immune to great playoff defenses. Look at how he can level up his scoring, with only a minuscule change to his efficiency.

Brunson’s offense isn’t predicated on being supremely strong (although his lower-body and core routines should be replicated by all young guards) or lightning-fast, both of which diminish against stronger defensive personnel. Brunson’s superpower is his ability to react to defenses.

All defenses in the history of everything are not without a tradeoff. They give up one type of shot with the goal of taking away another. Brunson has the calmness to keep his dribble alive until that vulnerability presents itself, and once it does, he has the two-foot discipline, balance, and touch to exploit those weaknesses, whatever they may be.

Brunson is Allen Iverson fully realized. He has the IQ to read any coverage and the skill to execute any counter. Like Might Guy once said of his beloved protege, “he turned his disadvantage into a blessing.” Brunson’s size made it so he could never be a star in the way we are familiar with. So, he became a master of what he could do.

Regardless of what happens in the NBA Finals, it is clear that the Knicks are a team capable of going toe-to-toe with anyone in basketball. And since Brunson is the unquestioned leader of this formidable bunch, it is time to forever put to rest the notion that you can’t win with this undersized superstar.