The Aporia · ESPN analyst: Jalen Brunson isn’t NBA’s sixth-best player

ESPN analyst: Jalen Brunson isn’t NBA’s sixth-best player— he’s much worse

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Richter, E. (2026, September 25). ESPN analyst: Jalen Brunson isn’t NBA’s sixth-best player— he’s much worse. New York Post. https://nypost.com/2026/09/25/sports/espn-analyst-jalen-brunson-isnt-nbas-sixth-best-player-hes-much-worse/

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Quick Summary

ESPN analytics expert Dean Oliver criticizes Jalen Brunson's ranking by the network’s panel of seven voters, who placed Brunson at No. 6 overall in their top-100 rankings despite Oliver placing him around No. 25. Oliver attributes this discrepancy to New York media bias and points out Brunson's missed shot in a key Finals moment. He also notes that Brunson’s size and defensive metrics limit his potential, even though Brunson won the NBA Finals MVP for leading the Knicks to a championship over the Spurs in five games.

Written by AI on 2026-09-25, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

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ESPN analyst Dean Oliver, known as a pioneer in basketball analytics, argues that Knicks player Jalen Brunson is not the NBA's sixth-best player but rather around 25th overall. This claim contrasts with ESPN’s recent top-100 rankings where seven panelists voted Brunson at No. 6. Oliver highlights potential "New York media bias" as a factor in inflating Brunson's ranking, noting that Brunson missed the final shot in Game 4 of the NBA Finals. Despite this, Brunson has averaged over 26 points per game for three consecutive seasons with shooting percentages above 46% from the field and 36% from beyond the arc. Oliver also notes that various advanced metrics and player rating systems offer a more balanced perspective on player rankings compared to human judgments alone.

Written for “Jalen Brunson Nba Ranking” on 2026-11-03, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

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New York Post's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.

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Who wrote this

Erich Richter

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Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.

All 87 articles by Erich Richter →

Claims (14 extracted, 1 hedged)

A championship isn’t stopping bulletin-board material coming in for Jalen Brunson and the Knicks. asserted

material → stop → Brunson

ESPN’s analytics guru Dean Oliver, widely considered the godfather of basketball analytics as a pioneering statistician and data scientist, rated Jalen Brunson “around the No. 25 range” among NBAers. asserted

guru → consider → NBAers

Brunson’s standing has entered the spotlight after ESPN revealed its top-100 rankings as voted on by seven panelists, although Oliver did not have a vote. asserted

Oliver → enter → vote

That panel ranked Brunson No. 6 overall, behind only No. 1 Nikola Jokic, No. 2 Victor Wembanyama, No. 3 Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, No. 4 Luka Doncic and No. 5 Giannis Antetokounmpo. asserted

panel → rank → Jokic

Ben Golliver, Vincent Goodwill, Zach Kram, Bobby Marks, Dave McMenamin, André Snellings and Matt “Stats” Williams composed the group of voters. asserted

Golliver → compose → voters

To Oliver, the key cog in inflating the NBA Finals MVP’s overall ranking is the “New York media bias.” asserted

cog → inflate → ranking

“That bias might also help you forget that Brunson missed the shot in the most iconic image from the Finals,” he said, “when OG Anunoby swooped in for the putback game-winner to clinch Game 4.” uncertain

Anunoby → help → Game

Oliver, who has published two basketball analytics books and was an assistant coach for analytics on the Wizards before returning to ESPN in 2024, adds that Brunson’s size limits his upside and defensive metrics. asserted

size → publish → upside

However, that did not stop Brunson from winning the NBA Finals MVP in leading the Knicks over the Spurs in five games. asserted

that → stop → games

Oliver did not list anything specific that explains the disparity between Brunson’s rating in his models and the general consensus. asserted

that → list → models

Brunson has averaged at least 26 points per game in each of his last three seasons with the Knicks, while shooting at least 46.7 percent from the field and 36.9 percent from 3. Oliver does list multiple advanced metrics and player rating systems that he says “provide a useful counter perspective to the humans, with their good eyes but occasional biases.” Oliver, who received an engineering PHD from the University of North Carolina, also listed Jaylen Brown far below the consensus pollsters. asserted

who → average → pollsters

Brown ranked between No. 9 and No. 23 according for the panelists, though he says his model placed him around No. 60. asserted

model → rank → .

Most NBA teams probably agreed on that one, since many didn’t want to trade for Brown and his big contract this offseason. asserted

many → agree → Brown

Brown was traded between rivals as the Celtics moved him to Philadelphia in exchange for a first-round pick and Paul George. asserted

Celtics → trade → pick

ESPN analyst: Jalen Brunson isn’t NBA’s sixth-best player— he’s much worse

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Claims (14 extracted, 1 hedged)