00:00I wouldn't trade Jalen Brunson for anyone or anything.
00:03The course of the franchise has shifted dramatically since his arrival.
00:08I talked to the GOATS, Charles Barkley, about this on my SiriusXM radio show yesterday.
00:15I said this, I think, two years ago, maybe three, when Jalen got the Knicks,
00:21made the Knicks irrelevant again.
00:23And Kenny and Shaq gave me a hard time,
00:26because they thought throwing out LeBron and KD and things like that.
00:29I said, this right here, when the Knicks got Jalen,
00:33and listen, we're all shocked how great he has become.
00:36Let's don't act like we thought he was going to be what he is.
00:40We said, that's a good signing by the Knicks.
00:43But what I said, I think it was three years ago,
00:45when they had their first run with Jalen,
00:47I said, this might be the greatest free agent signing in the NBA history.
00:53And they're like, what about LeBron and KD?
00:55I said, well, that's a little different.
00:56Those guys, we knew they were going to be all-timers.
01:00But what Jalen has accomplished in New York,
01:04I'm not trying to be over-exaggerate.
01:07I think Jalen, what he has bought to the Knicks,
01:10it might be the greatest free agent signing,
01:13because nobody, nobody.
01:15Hey, you can ask the guys who run the Knicks.
01:18They did not expect Jalen to be this great.
01:21And let me tell you something.
01:23If they told you they thought Jalen was going to be this great,
01:26they're full of it.
01:27Because what he has turned the Knicks into is must-see.
01:32I think the year he won, like, clutch player of the year is when I said that.
01:36But what he has done for the New York Knicks,
01:40and you can, like I said,
01:41you factor in what he single-handedly did in game one,
01:44when they were down 22,
01:45it's been, it's been seriously, I'm not even joking,
01:49probably the greatest free agent signing in NBA history.
01:53I'm obsessed with Charles,
01:55and I want you to take a look at this
01:57in terms of what Jalen Brunson has brought to the table
02:01as a Broadway star.
02:04Because this backs up everything that Charles Barkley said.
02:08Playoff wins, just feast your eyes on this, right?
02:11Playoff wins for the Knicks from 2002 to 2022, eight.
02:17Playoff wins since the Brunson arrival, 35.
02:23Just look at that.
02:24Sometimes stats can be deceiving, sometimes they lie.
02:28This tells you everything you need to know.
02:30And it's important to note here,
02:32the Knicks were a clown show.
02:35The Knicks, it was sheer buffoonery.
02:38The Knicks were an embarrassment.
02:40The Knicks were irrelevant.
02:41I think that people forgot how much they hate the Knicks
02:44or hate New York, NBA fans,
02:47because no one cared because the Knicks were a joke.
02:51Jalen Brunson changed the franchise.
02:55So that statistical category that we just showed
02:59in terms of the playoff wins,
03:00in addition to the field, the points, the assists, the wins,
03:05that all matters here in terms of Charles Barkley's argument.
03:10Now, I'm going to give my response.
03:13I'm going to give my top five, five through one,
03:16on the best free agent pickups in my lifetime in the NBA.
03:22Let's break it down.
03:23Number five on my list, LeBron to the Cavs.
03:27And you have to remember, that was the Sports Illustrated article,
03:31and he announced it.
03:32I'm coming home.
03:34Delivered Cleveland its first professional championship,
03:38the kid from Akron.
03:39It was an unbelievable job by LeBron.
03:43It was emotional.
03:44Kyrie hit the shot.
03:45Kevin Love was outstanding.
03:47This team, to me, was likable.
03:49You know, give Ty Lue a ton of credit.
03:51LeBron had a promise to deliver a championship.
03:54He had to go from Cleveland to Miami to Cleveland to deliver it.
03:59But this, in terms of free agent signing, was absolutely phenomenal.
04:04Number four on my list, LeBron going to Miami.
04:09And I think sometimes this gets lost in the shuffle sometimes
04:13because LeBron had that dopey dance-off.
04:17And remember after he signed, and the whole decision,
04:21and Jim Gray, and it took forever.
04:23I'm going to take my talents to South Beach.
04:25Not one, not two, not three, not four.
04:27And that's when I think the court of public opinion for a lot of people
04:30shifted on LeBron.
04:32Went from great story, great kid.
04:34He's en route to being a superstar.
04:35I can't stand this guy.
04:37I will always defend LeBron on what he did in Miami.
04:40He was there for four years, made the NBA Finals all four years
04:43and won two championships.
04:45So that, to me, is number four on my list
04:48when it comes to best free agent signing of my lifetime in the NBA.
04:54Number three is Jalen Brunson.
04:57I don't agree with Chuck, at least right now,
05:00but I'm even going to assume when I put Jalen Brunson number three
05:04because I'm picking the Knicks to win a championship.
05:07I'm going to assume the Knicks win just for the sake of this list
05:10and this conversation.
05:12Jalen Brunson, and there were people in the media,
05:15talking heads like me, who hated the signing.
05:18I will tell you exactly what I said at the time.
05:20I thought the money was a little crazy.
05:23I thought I loved Jalen Brunson in Dallas, loved him in Villanova.
05:27He wanted to be in New York.
05:29He obviously grew up with Knicks ties, you know, playing in Dallas.
05:33You're on center stage, playing in Villanova, on center stage.
05:37But I thought they needed another player, too.
05:39I thought the money was a lot.
05:41And you've got to remember, this is on the heels of Mark Cuban
05:43famously not giving him the money.
05:45Brunson was pissed.
05:46So what Brunson has done, becoming a clone of Derek Jeter,
05:52the only thing missing in that comparison is that championship,
05:55I put Jalen Brunson, I mean this as the ultimate compliment,
05:59third on the list.
06:02Because Kevin Durant's number two.
06:04And I think people forget about Durant or don't give Durant the credit
06:08because at the end of the day, people like to just bang on Kevin Durant,
06:13like to rip on Kevin Durant in terms of, okay, Kevin Durant, you know,
06:18joined a great team.
06:19And Kevin Durant, at the end of the day, this was one where, all right,
06:25you know, this was Steph's team.
06:27That's not it.
06:29Kevin Durant, and he had the whole, if you remember, you know,
06:33everyone had to visit him in the Hamptons, the whole big summer of Durant.
06:37I always wanted him to stay in OKC.
06:39I thought that that team would have been great, they would have won with Russ.
06:43Didn't happen.
06:44He wanted to win a championship, right?
06:46And he was, and I'll always argue this, the best player when he was on these Warriors teams.
06:55Not Steph, not Klay, not Draymond, who's going to the Hall of Fame.
07:01Steve Kerr, I think, is the top five coach in the history of the sport.
07:04Kevin Durant was not a hood ornament on those teams.
07:09He was the best player.
07:10He was the Finals MVP twice.
07:12Not Steph, Kevin Durant.
07:14So, I will absolutely put Durant number two on my list.
07:19And, you know, with LeBron being lower on the list, right,
07:22for the Miami Heat and the Cleveland Cavaliers, you know,
07:26obviously he brought, obviously, Bosch with him.
07:29Wade was already there.
07:30So, that's why I have Brunson as opposed to LeBron James higher on the list.
07:35But number one will always and forever be Shaquille O'Neal.
07:40And it's important to jog the mental Rolodex on what Shaq was in Orlando.
07:47And he was larger than life.
07:49And he was an icon.
07:50He's doing Shazam.
07:51And he was Hollywood.
07:52And he's breaking backboards and everything that goes into the mix.
07:56Like, that was one of those off-season moves where I remember where I was
08:00when Shaq signed with the L.A. Lakers.
08:03That was the late great Jerry West getting that done.
08:06Just unbelievable stuff.
08:08So, and of course, Shaq won all those championships.
08:11And Shaq and Kobe were amazing.
08:13And Shaq was a rock star and a legend in Los Angeles.
08:18So, I love the way my guy Charles Barkley, who is the greatest analyst on TV in the history
08:25of sports television, I love the love that he shows my guy Jalen Brunson.
08:30Brunson turning the Knicks around.
08:32That's why I put Brunson ahead of any of the LeBron stops.
08:36Not on my top five, the Lakers.
08:38I do not have the Lakers and LeBron going to the Lakers.
08:43I don't even have that in my top five.
08:45Brunson is absolutely ahead of LeBron in all of his free agent stops.
08:50Miami, Cleveland, Los Angeles.
08:53And that's because of the impact on a team that was dreadful.
08:56And also, he was acting alone.
08:59I mean, now you have a team around him.
09:01But it all, when they make the Bridges deal and give them five first-round picks,
09:06it's because of Jalen Brunson.
09:07When they bring in Carl Anthony Townsend, it's because of Jalen Brunson.
09:10When you bring in someone like O'Jan Inobi or Brunson's literal podcast partner
09:15and best friend, Josh Hart, it's because of the impact of Brunson.
09:19So I am obsessed with this when it comes to Jalen Brunson
09:23and where he is on this list.
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