Jalen Brunson Is Proving Flopper Myth Wrong in 2026 Playoffs

Flopper. Foul-baiter. Grifter. Embellisher. For a large portion of Jalen Brunson's career as a Knick, he has been called those, and sometimes worse. The point guard does, at time, sell calls. But there is a very clear distinction between flopping, and what he actually does.

A clip surfaced earlier this season where Brunson confronts a fan sitting courtside at a Raptors game. The fan tells Brunson that the play in question was a flop. Brunson, before pointing at the replay on the jumbotron, calmly retorted, "That's a foul. Just playing by the rules."

Obviously nobody is going to willingly admit that they are flopping. Public enemy No. 1 when it comes to this topic is Shai-Gilgeous Alexander, who is among the worst violators of said tactic. On numerous occasions, he has refuted the notion that he's a flopper as well.

Unlike some of the league's stars, though, Brunson actually has a fair defense, which includes this year's playoffs.

Narrative surrounding Jalen Brunson's flopping has been debunked yet again

Heading into Thursday night's pivotal Game 6, Brunson is currently fourth in the playoffs in points per game, averaging a cool 28.2 PPG. He's done that averaging just six free throws per game, which ranks 19th in the league. And among the top 20 scorers this postseason, Brunson is just one of seven players to average six or fewer free throw attempts per game.

For reference, the aforementioned Gilgeous-Alexander averages 12.3 attempts per game. But what makes the flopper label so unfair for Brunson isn't just the fact that he doesn't shoot that many free throws, it's the fact that there are so many worse transgressors.

Jamal Murray, Jaylen Brown, Paolo Banchero, Nikola Jokic, RJ Barrett, Scottie Barnes, Kevin Durant, Denu Avdija, LeBron James, Austin Reaves, Devin Booker, Alperen Sengun, Amen Thompson, and Julius Randle all average more free throws despite averaging fewer points per game.

Meanwhile, Brunson, who again is fourth in these playoffs in scoring, ranks 57th in percentage of points that come from free throws among the 119 qualifying players who average more than 15 MPG.

Brunson has addressed these allegations in the past. Late last year, on Lou Williams' podcast, he stated, "I'm not a foul baiter. I just play by the rules. Be disciplined on defense. Don't reach."

When the co-host weighed in, bringing up Brunson jumping backwards to draw fouls on trailing defenders, he made it clear that he doesn't do that. "Hold on, I don't jump backwards. Go watch the film. I just straight up, and you're going full speed."

Brunson understands that it may be frustrating for opponents or viewers, but he makes it clear that it's also the responsibility of the defenders to play legal defense. If, and when they don't he's ready, and smart enough to take advantage of that.

Brunson enters Thursday also leading these playoffs in driving field goal attempts. I think among the few things NBA fans can agree on is the fact that the more a player drives, the more likely they are to get fouled. Even though Brunson has taken more field goals on drives than Cade Cunningham, and the aforementioned Brown, Murray, Avdija, Sengun, and Banchero, he still is rewarded with less free throws than them.

And for the Hawks fans who have been vocal about their displeasure surrounding Brunson's whistle, CJ McCollum, who has had a phenomenal series outside of Game 5, is averaging just 1.6 fewer free throws per game. This is despite Brunson having 21 more driving field goal attempts thus far.

Does Brunson exaggerate illegal contact to show officials how physical defenders are with him? Absolutely. I'm not here to claim that Brunson is the most ethical player in the league, and I'm certain most Knicks fans don't view that as a hill they'd die on either. But this notion that Brunson is one of the worst floppers in the league, or anything close to it, is a lazy narrative that social media, and analysts, have unfortunately ran with.

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