When the Knicks have needed a play this postseason, the ball has almost always found its way into Jalen Brunson’s hands. Game 2 was no exception. The box score won’t tell the full story. Brunson shot just 7-for-25 from the field, yet somehow still managed to leave his fingerprints all over New York’s 105-104 win. He finished with 20 points, six assists, and a team-high five steals, helping the Knicks escape with another win and take a 2-0 series lead.

While Brunson was grinding out another playoff win, the shadow of Luka Doncic still hangs over any conversation about him. Doncic has spent years answering questions about his defense, and Brunson has heard many of the same critiques. Too small, vulnerable in switches, a target for bigger opponents. Offensively, the league’s pecking order has generally placed Brunson a tier below Doncic, with Luka viewed as the more complete star. But ESPN’s Michael Wilbon believes that gap is no longer as clear-cut as it once seemed.

“Jalen Brunson is at least as valuable as Luka Dončić,” Wilbon said on “First Take” by ESPN. At least. “Because Jalen Brunson is not a great defender, but he doesn’t take plays off. I don’t care about ability — he’s a willing defender from an effort standpoint. If I compare him to early Steph, he’s willing. The effort is there.”

The comparison was never going to stay buried for long.

Wilbon’s argument doesn’t exist in a vacuum, either. Doncic’s defensive limitations have been a talking point for years, from viral clips of him jogging back on defense while opponents score in transition to the advanced metrics that have shadowed him throughout his career.

“Luka doesn’t care about that side,” Wilbon continued on First Take. “But yet we value that — we value the 37 points a game, or whatever it is.”

The numbers, at least on the surface, partially back him up. According to recent advanced metrics, Dončić holds a defensive rating of 115.3 this past season, while the Lakers as a unit hovered near 116.6, meaning he was marginally better than his team’s average, but still operating in the bottom tier of the league defensively.

Per DataBallr, his defensive plus-minus sat at -0.1 last season, compared to Brunson’s -0.9, which Wilbon cites to argue Brunson is the marginally sounder defender in effort terms.

But that’s also where the critics of Wilbon’s take dig in. The defensive plus-minus gap between the two is razor-thin, less than a point.

And the additional context cuts against Wilbon’s framing. Doncic contests 22.4 field goal attempts per 100 possessions, compared to Brunson’s lower volume, suggesting Luka is absorbing a heavier direct defensive burden than the raw effort narrative gives him credit for.

However, fans are enraged by this recycling of narratives, as they have criticized Wilbon for overlooking key metrics for Doncic. 

Luka Doncic Hailed As ‘Gold Standard’ As Fans Push Back On Michael Wilbon’s Take

“You know how I know this isn’t true? When Luka is playing well, not a single soul would bring up Jalen Brunson in the moment,” wrote a fan. “You know Luka is the best player in the world when he subconsciously gets brought up as the gold standard when people try to make comparisons,” pitched in another. 

Luka Doncic finished a distant fourth in the MVP voting despite his explosive season with the Lakers. While he struggled through some injuries, Doncic averaged an NBA-leading 33.5 points along with 8.8 assists and 7.7 rebounds while shooting 47.% from the field and 36.6 % from three in 64 games. 

Naturally, being one of the most popular faces in the league and one of the best players, his name is bound to come up in comparisons. Even with the defensive drawbacks, Doncic remains one of the most impactful players. And according to some, his defensive deficiencies are greatly exaggerated as well. 

“Wilbon clearly doesn’t watch Luka play. To discount his steals and Defensive rebounding prowess is such a disservice to one of the best players in the game,” commented one.

“This isn’t true. Sick of the lazy media narrative,” pitched in another.

Luka’s defense has become so entrenched that it often drowns out a more nuanced reality. He is far from an elite defender, but the idea that he is a constant liability doesn’t always hold up under scrutiny.

Some of the numbers, in fact, paint a very different picture.

Doncic’s defensive rebounding percentage sits at 19.4%, placing him in the 95th percentile among his peers. His stop percentage, a measure of possessions ended through defensive actions comes in at 3.1%, good for the 86th percentile.

These aren’t the marks of a player simply surviving on that end of the floor, they suggest someone who contributes in meaningful ways, even if those contributions don’t always show up in highlight reels.

And this isn’t just a case of statistics telling a flattering story. In March, Doncic was named a nominee for Defensive Player of the Month. An acknowledgment that, at least for stretches, his work on that end of the floor was earning league-wide recognition.

“The media really hates Luka Dončić lol, even more since he started wearing purple & gold,” pointed out another fan. The scrutiny is bound to increase when a player like Doncic arrives at the Lakers, a legacy franchise with multiple titles and legends in its past.

Especially when it’s the franchise’s last-ditch move to support LeBron James’ final title. But when it comes to defense, some of the criticism is valid, as the effort at times lags behind. He himself admitted it in 2023. 

“I’ve been playing basketball for three straight years — four weeks in between it was free,” Doncic explained at the time. “Sometimes it’s really hard for me to play really hard on both ends. But obviously, the defensive end I gotta be way better.” 

Doncic knows he can be better. He’s said so plainly, without being asked. That self-awareness is worth something. But so is context, and right now, the conversation around his defense has almost none of it.