Kendrick Perkins went against the odds. The Philadelphia 76ers star Tyrese Maxey has emerged as the clear favorite for this season’s Most Improved Player Award. After James Harden’s exit, many felt that the big man, Joel Embiid, would suffer alone without any support. But that wasn’t the case. Maxey filled up Harden’s shoes and even went on to do a better job than him. While he remained the favorite for the trophy so far, Perkins felt it could change in no time.

Former Celtics star felt that New York Knicks star guard Jalen Brunson could take the spot if Maxey doesn’t amp up his performance in a recent post. Perkins took to his X handle and wrote, “Maxey as the slight age right now for as winning Most Improved… but he better finish strong because Jalen Brunson is on his a** like back pockets!!! Carry the hell on…”

Jalen Brunson and Tyrese Maxey have had a breakout season so far, producing great numbers consistently to take their teams to the heights in the East. Maxey produced a career-best average of 25.8 points this season, 5 points more than what James Harden produced last season. Clearly, a better replacement for the Beard. 

However, over the last few weeks, the Sixers have been facing a slump and dropped a few seeds in the East. At the same time, Maxey also struggled a bit in the absence of Joel Embiid. Meanwhile, on the other hand, Jalen Brunson has had an unstoppable run with the Knicks.

The guard finally made it to his first All-Star game this season and has truly carried the team in the East and put them in a comfortable place for the playoff race.

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Who do you think will win the Most Improved Player Award between these two players? Let’s go by the words of Perkins.

Brunson vs Maxey – Most Improved Player Award

In the last few years, Perkins had made several predictions for the MIP award, but none of them finally went on to win the award. In 2020 & 2021, he predicted Jaylen Brown to win the award, but it was Brandon Ingram and Julius Randle. Similarly, he missed the mark in 2022 as well. He went for Kyle Kuzma, but Ja Morant won it.

However, this year, it didn’t seem to go wrong, as he had picked the most favorable player to win the trophy, Maxey. On the other hand, he had also heaped praise for Brunson ahead of ASG. He said, “Jalen Brunson is a star and deserves all the credit in the world,” during their show together on ESPN.

Let’s wait to find out if either of the stars goes on to break Perkins’ MIP award jinx.