ESPN’s Jalen Brunson take reopens one of the worst mistakes in Mavericks history

Jalen Brunson just swept the Cleveland Cavaliers, won the ECF MVP award, and sent the New York Knicks to their first NBA Finals in 27 years. Now, ESPN is debating whether he is the greatest Knick ever. 

In Dallas, fans are literally fuming, given that he was once a member of the Dallas Mavericks. But now, he is the gravitational force behind the Knicks' magic.

ESPN analyst Kendrick Perkins put Brunson on the franchise GOAT pedestal this week, saying, "This man has the opportunity to become the greatest Knick ever, and change the narrative and enter a room only a few people sit at." 

Perkins wasn't alone in this table. Multiple ESPN voices piled on as the Knicks literally steamrolled Cleveland under first-year head coach Mike Brown. Stephen A. Smith weighed in with his own take on whether Brunson earns that title if New York wins the championship.

The takes are understandable from a pure basketball standpoint. Brunson averaged 25.5 points and 7.8 assists across four ECF games, including a 38-point performance in Game 1, where New York erased a 22-point fourth-quarter deficit and won in overtime. The Knicks won 11 straight games on their way to the Finals, and Brunson was the unanimous choice for ECF MVP.

But for the Mavericks community, every highlight of him in the playoffs hit like a truck because Dallas had Brunson and let him walk.

The guard was a second-round pick who developed alongside Luka Dončić into a legitimate co-star. Mavs had multiple chances to lock him up on an extension but delayed negotiations. In the process, Knicks president Leon Rose eventually signed him to a four-year, $104 million deal in free agency and Dallas got nothing in return.

Mavs GM Nico Harrison texted Mark Cuban in early February that Brunson's family ties to New York were too strong to overcome. Yet, the front office did nothing. Brunson's agents indicated that a five-year, $87 million offer would finalize a deal, but Dallas refused, offering only a four-year, $55.5 million extension.

Brunson later stated on the All the Smoke podcast that the Mavs' front office went completely silent during the critical stretch before free agency, even though he wanted to stay in Dallas.

Now, the 29-year-old is a three-time All-NBA player, an Eastern Conference Finals MVP and four wins away from a championship in a New York uniform. The debate over whether he is the greatest Knick ever hurts Dallas fans because it highlights the exact cost of their front office's mistakes. 

In 2022, Bleacher Report's Greg Swartz pointed out that Brunson was second on the team in points and assists and that the Mavericks were actually better with both him and Luka Doncic on the floor together than with the Slovenian star alone. Tragically for Dallas, the Mavericks now have neither Brunson nor Doncic.

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