The Knicks’ Dilemma: Can a Small Guard Lead a Championship Team?

The New York Knicks have long been in the spotlight, but their current situation brings up an existential question that many fans and analysts are asking: can a team win a championship with a small, less-athletic guard as their best player? Jalen Brunson, the Knicks’ star guard, has become the focal point of this debate.

Former NBA guard Tim Legler, now an ESPN analyst, highlighted the challenges of relying on a smaller player as the top scorer. “Tough. It’s tough,” he said. “Even if you just took out the ‘not as athletic’ component, and you just said ‘at his size as your highest-volume shot-taker,’ just look historically how many teams have done that.”

Legler pointed to historical examples like Isiah Thomas, who led the Detroit Pistons to championships. “You didn’t have the discrepancy that you have here where your leading scorer is seven points better than your next leading scorer. Then there’s another five-point drop before you get to your third leading scorer.” He also mentioned Chauncey Billups, who was slightly bigger but still not a super-athletic player. “Look at the balance on that team.”

Historical Precedents and Current Challenges

In the 1988-89 and 1989-90 seasons, Thomas averaged about two more shots per game than any of his Pistons teammates. On the 2003-04 championship Pistons team, Billups wasn’t even the leading scorer; it was Richard Hamilton. The only recent example of a smaller guard winning a championship as a lead scorer is Stephen Curry.

The reigning champion Oklahoma City Thunder have Shai Gilgeous-Alexander as their best player and top scorer, but he is much taller (6-foot-6) and more athletic than Brunson. Additionally, the Thunder were an elite defensive team, similar to those Pistons teams.

“Small guards in today’s game are not easy because you can’t switch as much,” said former NBA coach Stan Van Gundy, now an analyst for “NBA on Prime Video.” “Steph Curry has shown us that certainly you don’t have to be a big guard to play on a championship-level team. One of the things that Steph has done throughout the course of his career is he has really improved at the defensive end.”

Recent Champions and the Role of the Best Player

Across the past 10 years, non-Warriors championship teams had LeBron James, Kawhi Leonard, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokic, Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander as their best player and top scorer. This trend shows that while it’s possible for a smaller player to lead a team to a championship, it’s rare and often requires exceptional skill and support.

The conversation around Brunson intensified when Becky Hammon, then an ESPN analyst, suggested two years ago that Brunson is too small to be a “1A dude” capable of leading a team to a championship. She used Allen Iverson and Steve Nash as examples.

The Knicks have since added Karl-Anthony Towns, OG Anunoby, and Mikal Bridges to provide depth around Brunson. However, they haven’t pursued a big-name player like Giannis Antetokounmpo to make Brunson a second option.

Brunson’s Unique Skills

Legler noted that Brunson’s efficiency sets him apart from other players of his size. “Most guys his size aren’t this efficient. Most guys his size that shoot that much do not shoot 48 percent from the field. They don’t shoot 40 percent from the 3-point line. They don’t do that. Most of those guys, in that size range that take a lot of shots, are in the low 40s. They’re 34 percent from the three. That’s way more typical than what Brunson does.”

Brunson has defied expectations throughout his career, but the vast majority of recent NBA history suggests that it’s not easy for a small guard to lead a team to a championship. His success so far has been impressive, but the path ahead remains challenging.