Kendrick Perkins wasn't going to let Stephen A. Smith disrespect Jalen Brunson like that.
The Knicks star was left out of the NBA All-Star starting lineup in the Eastern Conference, finishing third among guards behind Tyrese Haliburton of the Pacers and Damian Lillard of the Bucks.
Brunson received five votes in the fan vote, and Lillard was used as the tiebreaker for the final spot.
Smith, a longtime Knicks fan, appeared on ESPN's NBA Today on Friday and seemed okay with Brunson not being nominated.
“Jalen Brunson is a star and deserves to be celebrated around the world, so it's a shame,” Smith said. “There's a reason the fans, media and players all voted for Haliburton over Brunson.”
Perkins, who played 14 seasons in the NBA, said that's not the case at all, and that part of the reason Brunson doesn't get the recognition he deserves is due to Smith and the Knicks themselves.
“Stay there and correct your body language,” Perkins told Smith. “You know what the problem is? The problem is that you, along with the organization, are a prime example of not promoting this man for who he is.
“When you talk about being the best, when you talk about his work, I should go to New York and land and walk through LaGuardia and other airports and see posters of Jalen Brunson.”
Smith voted for Brunson over Lillard, but said the Knicks guard was behind point guard Haliburton and Cavaliers shooting guard Donovan Mitchell.
Brunson, 27, is having a great season with the Knicks, who are in fifth place in the East with a 28-17 record and came away with a victory over the defending NBA champion Nuggets on Thursday night.
He averages 26.5 points, 6.4 assists and 3.8 rebounds per game and is often the Knicks' best player in the clutch.
Perkins has been vocal in saying that Brunson doesn't get enough respect.
“It's an absolute tragedy that Jalen Brunson is not named an All-Star starter in the Eastern Conference!” he wrote in X on Thursday. “I can't wait to get in front of the camera tomorrow on NBA Today! That's BS! Keep the hell up…”
He's not the only NBA analyst to speak for Brunson.
Charles Barkley also spoke up for the Knicks guard on Thursday night's NBA broadcast on TNT, noting that the former Villanova star “made the New York Knicks relevant for the first time since Patrick Ewing.”
“I'm never going to show Dame Lillard a slow shade,” Barkley said. “I love him as a person and as a player, but I would have loved to have seen Jalen Brunson become the starter.”
The team's reserve spots have not yet been determined by players and coaches, and Brunson's first All-Star Game appearance remains a goal, and he congratulated Lillard on being named the starter.
“It’s definitely a goal of mine,” Brunson said. “But the most important thing is how we handle day-to-day business. Of course it's a personal goal. But I think as long as we're winning, the personal stuff will come to us.”
