Inside The Heat

Charles Barkley Calls Jalen Brunson One Of The Best Free Agents In NBA History

The Miami Heat have their hands full with Brunson tonight at Miami-Dade Arena

Shandel Richardson

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 Charles Barkley spends most of his time as a TNT analyst criticizing NBA players, particularly anyone associated with the Miami Heat. 

He recently made an exception when talking about New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson during a recent broadcast. He said the Knicks picking up Brunson from the Dallas Mavericks last offseason wasn't quite LeBron James or Kevin Durant but ranks up there.  

"Jalen Brunson is probably one of the best free agent pickups in NBA history," Barkley said. "What he's doing this year is historical." 

The Heat face Brunson and the Knicks tonight at Miami-Dade Arena. Brunson is averaging 23.8 points, 6.2 assists and 3.6 rebounds. He's played a role in the Knicks already matching last year's win-total. They are No. 5 in the Eastern Conference standings and on a seven-game win streak. 

"We didn't know Jalen Brunson was this good of a player," Barkley said. "Nobody thought that. Everybody thought going the season he got overpaid. And when did he shine? When Luka got hurt that when he shined, in the playoffs. Going into last season in the regular season, nobody said Jalen Brunson was going to be a big-time free agent." 

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Shandel Richardson covers the Miami Heat for Inside The Heat.

TWITTER: @ShandelRich

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Shandel Richardson
SHANDEL RICHARDSON

Shandel has covered the NBA since 2010, with previous stops at The Athletic and South Florida Sun-Sentinel.  He has covered six NBA Finals, one Super Bowl, the NCAA basketball tournament. He has also been a beat writer for the Miami Hurricanes and contributed on every major beat in South Florida since 2003, including the Miami Dolphins and Miami Marlins. He can also be read in the Sportsbook Review for gambling coverage from around the NBA. A native of Bloomington, Illinois, Shandel attended Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. He's also worked for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Kansas City Star.  TWITTER: @ShandelRich EMAIL: shandelrich@gmail.com You can subscribe to our YouTube channel here Follow all of our Miami Heat coverage on Facebook here

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