Kendrick Perkins Blasts Eastern Conference Star For Poor Start to Season

Matt Levine | Nov 10, 2024

Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

Former NBA center Kendrick Perkins has never been shy about letting his feelings be known on any subject. The ESPN analyst has transformed his post-playing days into providing his thoughts on the NBA in impressive fashion.

In a recent episode of show "NBA Today, Perkins didn't hold back his thoughts on New York Knicks star point guard Jalen Brunson.

"Last year, Jalen Brunson was in my eyes the best player in the Eastern Conference ... This year he's not even top 15 player in the Eastern Conference," Perkins said. "That's where the bar gets set and the expectations for him. Now, when you think about Big Body Brunson, he got his name because he delivered when it matters the most. Right now, he's 29th in the league in fourth quarter points."

Perk: "Last year Jalen Brunson was in my eyes the best player in the Eastern Conference. This year he's not even top 15" pic.twitter.com/qVvb4454BM

— New York Basketball (@NBA_NewYork) November 8, 2024

The Knicks currently have a record of 4-4 on the season and have been a little inconsistent to start the year. Part of this has been the play of Brunson at different times so far.

He is averaging 24.0 points, 2.5 rebounds, 6.1 assists, and 0.5 steals per game. Brunson is also shooting 41.3 percent from beyond the 3-point line.

His numbers last year were an average of 28.7 points, 3.6 rebounds, 6.7 assists, and 0.9 steals per game. Each category has dipped a little and it has hurt the Knicks on the floor.

Brunson isn't playing awful but he had to be superhuman for New York last season. His performance led the Knicks to being the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference and they entered this year hopeful for more success.

It's still early in the NBA season so Brunson has plenty of time to turn things around. The Knicks also have more talent on the roster this year so the veteran point guard may not have to do everything himself.

He even took ownership of how his year has started.

“My mentality has to be better,” Brunson said, per Zach Braziller of the New York Post. “I haven’t been satisfied individually with how I’ve been playing, but we won. That’s all I care about, and we just move on from there.” 

For the Knicks to get where they want to go this season, Brunson will need to step it up. He has plenty of time but the clock is ticking to get things rolling.

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