Jalen Brunson transformed his legacy with his heroic 2026 NBA Finals performance against the San Antonio Spurs, as the relatively undersized New York Knicks star repeatedly delivered on the league’s biggest stage.
According to The Ringer’s Bill Simmons, the Knicks’ historic championship run has elevated Brunson to a different tier of all-time greats, above several big names, including fellow backcourt standouts Luka Dončić and James Harden.
Bill Simmons Places Jalen Brunson Above Luka Dončić, James Harden in NBA Historical Pyramid
Entering this year’s playoffs, few picked New York to win the title, with many viewing San Antonio and the Oklahoma City Thunder as the preeminent contenders. However, Brunson and Co. flipped the script, posting a dominant 16-3 postseason record, including a 4-1 Finals triumph that featured double-digit comebacks in all four victories.
Behind Brunson’s knack for hitting clutch shots and ability to will his team to the finish line, the Knicks ended the playoffs as winners of 15 of 16 games, amassing a record-breaking plus-283 point differential across their 19-game run.
The three-time All-Star peaked when it mattered most, tallying a franchise Finals record 45 points in Saturday’s 94-90 title-clinching Game 5 victory in San Antonio as he completely took over down the stretch. The 6-foot-2 guard got the best of 7-foot-4 Spurs phenom Victor Wembanyama throughout the series en route to earning Finals MVP honors.
While Brunson was largely viewed as a second-tier star heading into the postseason, his electric run has sparked debates about his league-wide standing. On Monday, Simmons took the discussion a step further, proclaiming the 29-year-old a no-brainer top 50 player ever, citing the historical significance of a small guard managing to lead the Knicks to their first title since 1973.
“I think he has to be one of the top 50 players of all time now. He did something that a bunch of great guards were never able to do,” Simmons began on Monday’s edition of “The Bill Simmons Podcast.”
“… James Harden, as a starter on his own team, never even made the Finals and fell short over and over again. Steve Nash, who was an unbelievable player, a two-time MVP, through no fault of his own, could never quite get the team there. Chris Paul finally did it in the 2021 Finals late in his career, but they lost.
“Jason Kidd, two straight Finals, but he lost, and then finally gets one later as a role player starter on Dallas. What Brunson did was up there with Dwyane Wade in 2006. It was up there with [Bill] Walton in ’77. … Just dragging a team to the Finals, and he is somebody that I never in a million years would have thought would make the pyramid.”
The veteran analyst then went as far as to crown Brunson the 40th greatest player in his historical hierarchy, lauding his Game 5 masterclass.
“He was the guy over and over again who could create the best offense for them, and he got better when it mattered. He never got tired. He played 39 minutes a game in the Finals. As a small guy, the stuff that he did was inconceivable,” Simmons said.
“What he did in Game 5, I’m just gonna say it. The more I look at it and stare at it, I think it’s one of the great Finals games. I have him at 40. I have him above Nash, Kidd, Sam Jones, Harden, [George] Gervin, and Luka.”
@BillSimmons makes the case for Jalen Brunson as a top-50 all-time NBA player pic.twitter.com/Eai4DsKX19
— The Ringer (@ringer) June 15, 2026
Simmons’ pyramid is sure to cause a stir, given the immense accolades of players ranked below Brunson. Regardless, the Knicks floor general’s legendary playoff run at his size should stand the test of time as one of the most memorable in NBA history.
