Stephen A. Smith Sends Strong Message on Jalen Brunson Ahead of Game 2

ESPN star Stephen A. Smith is known for criticizing players named Jaylen or Jalen during his on-air and social media remarks about the NBA Playoffs.

While he and the Boston Celtics’ Jaylen Brown engaged in an online, on-air, and on-stream beef with verbal exchanges, Smith seems to have shown plenty of love and respect for the New York Knicks‘ Jalen Brunson recently. That makes sense with Smith’s Knicks fandom.

On a recent episode of ESPN’s “First Take,” the popular sports personality delivered quite an endorsement of the two-time All-Star amid the Knicks’ recent playoff winning streak.

“He’s a little man. He’s the number one option. He’s the clear star of the team. There is no Willis Reed on the team with him. There is no Dave DeBusschere on the team with him. There is no Earl the Pearl Monroe … There is no dude like that on the team with him,” Smith said.

He praised Brunson’s teammates, including OG Anunoby, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Mikal Bridges, saying they can all play, but the offense is really on Brunson’s shoulders for this playoff run.

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Additionally, Smith said nobody was comparing Brunson to players like Kevin Durant or Donovan Mitchell back when he was the Knicks’ 33rd-round pick in the 2018 NBA Draft. The ESPN star said “nobody” expected Brunson to be like this.

ESPN also displayed a graphic showing that Brunson’s playoff scoring average of 29.5 points per game is the second-highest among New York Knicks players in team history. Additionally, he’s had 25 playoff games with 30 points or more.

“You’ve got either the reigning, defending NBA champions in his way, or Victor Wembanyama and that San Antonio Spurs team? And the Knicks find a way to win the championship under those conditions. I’m sorry, he’s number one if that happens,” Smith suggested, saying he’d take over that spot from Clyde Frazier.

Whether or not Brunson hears the message Smith broadcast on ESPN’s debate show shouldn’t matter, though it might give him an internal boost in confidence. That said, Brunson doesn’t seem to need those sorts of accolades due to already having that confidence as the team’s leader.

He’s helped his team win eight-straight games, including a second-round sweep of the Philadelphia 76ers, and more recently, that impressive comeback win over the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals.

The 6-foot-1 Brunson has clearly put this team on his back to try to deliver to New York Knicks fans what they’ve been hoping for for many years. While they appeared in the 1999 NBA Finals, they couldn’t defeat the San Antonio Spurs then, so Knicks fans are hoping for their first championship in over 50 years.

Before any of that could happen, they need to handle business against the Cavaliers. Brunson and the Knicks play Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Thursday night, beginning at 8 p.m. ET from New York City’s Madison Square Garden.

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This story was originally published May 21, 2026 at 11:01 AM.