Count Charles Barkley is also in Jalen Brunson's camp.
The Knicks guard finished tied for second place in NBA All-Star voting with Bucks' Damian Lillard, but the Milwaukee guard received more fan votes and was able to overtake Brunson to take the starting spot on the Eastern Conference team. will be acquired.
Barkley said on TNT's NBA broadcast Thursday night that he felt Brunson deserved a spot to spend the season in New York.
“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 Pro Basketball Hall of Famer said afterwards that Brunson, 27, made New York “meaningful” and is one of the best free agent signees in league history.
That last point drew some pushback from his fellow panelists, but Barkley defended himself and reiterated why he thinks Brunson is a special player.
“What Jalen Brunson has [done] “For the Knicks, he made the New York Knicks relevant for the first time since Patrick Ewing — plain and simple,” he added.
Barkley wasn't the only one in the sports world to be offended by this disrespect.
ESPN's Kendrick Perkins covered X and wrote about Brunson's frustration with not being named the starter.
“It's an absolute tragedy that Jalen Brunson is not selected as an Eastern Conference All-Star starter!” Perkins I have written. “I can't wait to get in front of the camera tomorrow on NBA Today! That's BS! Keep the hell up…”
Entering Thursday night's game against the Nuggets, Brunson was 12th in the league in points per game (26.6) and 16th in assists (6.5).
Lillard ranks 16th and 12th in those categories, but Blouson has the better field goal percentage (47.5 to 42.6) and 3-point percentage (42.3 to 34.7).
Lillard is currently on his eighth All-Star team, while Brunson is waiting to see if he will be added as a reserve.
