Knicks' Jalen Brunson Reveals His Top 5 Ever

No. 11's all-time starting five features some ghosts of the New York Knicks' dangerous past.

Jalen Brunson named his all-time starting five on a live stream hosted by the NBA and Nike, one commemorating the life and career of the late Kobe Bryant. The former Los Angeles Lakers star would've turned 46 on Friday and the stream saw Brunson look back on one of the finest games of Bryant's career, his 81-point showing against the Toronto Raptors in January 2006.

"When people talk about top 5 basketball players of all time, if someone doesn't mention Kobe, do you listen to the rest of the argument? Nope, I don't," Brunson said to hosts Jamiersen Green and Alexis Morgan (h/t New York Basketball on X). "If Kobe's not mentioned, there's no point in having that conversation."

"When people talk about top 5 basketball players of all time…if Kobe's not mentioned, there's no point in having that conversation"

–– Jalen Brunson

Brunson's top 5 (not in order):
🐐 Michael Jordan
🐐 LeBron James
🐐 Kobe Bryant
🐐 Shaquille O'Neal
🐐 (did not select) pic.twitter.com/DcTa0i2lY4
— New York Basketball (@NBA_NewYork) August 23, 2024

The Knicks of days gone by were not immune to Bryant's antics: in 2007, Bryant became the youngest player in NBA history to reach the 20,000-point landmark in a game against the Knicks at Madison Square Garden. Just over a year later, Bryant set an MSG record with 61 points in a 2009 triumph.

Brunson's comment led Green to ask him about his all-time starting five and the point guard's list features plenty of metropolitan demons.

"MJ (Michael Jordan), Bron (LeBron James), Kobe, obviously," Brunson began in no particular order. "The next two for me are tough. I never saw Wilt (Chamberlain) play. I never saw these greats. I didn't live through that."

Brunson eventually settled on Bryant's fellow Laker Shaquille O'Neal, calling it "self-explanatory" before leaving his fifth spot blank, claiming "you could put anyone at No. 5" with a top four like that.

Even with his sense of history centering on Manhattan villains, Brunson will likely be instantly forgiven by Knicks fans that may be ready to place him in their own all-time starting fives by the time his metropolitan career wraps up. Brunson has changed the course of New York basketball over his first two seasons at MSG and he has a brilliant opportunity to land his own first ring in an attempt to catch Bryant's five.

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