With the Conference Semifinals rolling out, we’re inching closer to the official MVP announcement for the season. The finalists for the race have been announced and Nikola Jokic, Luka Doncic, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander have made the final cut. While most people consider the Joker as the strongest MVP contender this season, Shaquille O’Neal has backed Shai for months. Now that his pick has made it to the final three, it seems Shaq also wanted Jalen Brunson to be considered for the honor.
The big fella shared a clip from ‘Broadcast Boys’ on his Instagram story to show his support for Brunson. Interestingly, the Knicks star didn’t even make it to the top five list on the MVP ladder. Regardless, his performance in this season has been incredible and in the last three games in the postseason, he has registered 40+ points each game. Naturally, Shaq backed his claim this year.
In the clip, the fan explained why Brunson is better than everyone on the MVP ladder. He said, “Jalen Brunson finished the season with more points than Nikola Jokic and Jayson Tatum. More assists than SGA and Damian Lillard.” He also listed that Brunson had more three-pointers, free throws, 40-point games, etc. than some players.
In theory, this sounds like a valid argument because according to Stat Muse, Brunson had 2,212 points compared to Tatum’s 1,987 and Jokic’s 2,085. The same applies to the other brackets he provided as well.
However, these stats don’t represent anything, especially in comparison to some of the players who were name-dropped in the clip. If he really wanted to make a strong case for Brunson as the MVP, the ideal way to approach it should have been by comparing his stats to the top three players. Instead, the fan took the cherry-picking approach and only mentioned certain stats against certain players to aid to his narrative. On the other hand, Kendrick Perkins honored him with another title of his own.
Kendrick Perkins declared Jalen Brunson as the EC MVP
There’s no question that Brunson deserves every bit of praise that is coming his way. Despite a great season performance so far, his numbers and impact have failed to match up to the level of the likes of Jokic, Luka, and Shai. But it’d be unfair if his efforts go unappreciated and to tackle that, Perkins came up with a new plan.
During an appearance on ‘NBA Today’, Perkins said, “He is the most valuable player in the Eastern Conference.” The NBA veteran turned analyst said that Brunson is doing more with less appreciation for his efforts. It’s a good thing that Perkins made a separate MVP tag for the Eastern Conference because that gives Brunson the moment of acknowledgment.
Even with their star forward Julius Randle out due to injuries, Brunson and Hart have uplifted the Knicks and how. The second seed has now cruised to the second round after clearing out the Joel Embiid-led 76ers from the playoffs.
