The Knicks are headed to the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999, and one player has been at the center of the run: ‘The Captain.’ Jalen Brunson has emerged as one of the most important players in New York, leading the franchise to within four wins of an NBA championship. He even received every single vote for the Eastern Conference Finals MVP award. Yet peers believe he’s still not quite there.

While doubts already started creeping in with Becky Hammon’s blunt take two years ago on Brunson’s limited impact, Draymond Green took it up a notch this week.

“January 2026: I still think the New York Knicks are missing that one piece that makes you a championship team,” Green said on The Draymond Green Show, recalling his exact words from earlier this year. “And that’s Kevin Durant, that’s Steph Curry, That’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, that’s LeBron James. These are 1A bonafide [players]. Until the Knicks have that, it’s going to be very tough to win a championship. And I double down on this, just like Becky Hammond said. Prove me wrong.

“Getting out of the East has never been a surefire way to win a championship. You get out of the East, you’re supposed to get out of the East. That just doesn’t mean you win a championship because you get out of the East.”

Notably, this comes days after Las Vegas Aces head coach Becky Hammon refused to back down from her statements made in 2023.

“I speak from experience,” Hammon told the reporters. “Allen Iverson got MVP, and he lost in the Finals. I think the two best teams are probably in the West, but I’m up for being proven wrong. That’s the other thing, I think Jalen Brunson’s a h-ll of a player. I’m speaking historically about the NBA with what I said. I don’t know why everybody’s so stuck on that. I said it two years ago. I stand by it.”

The incident Hammon is referring to happened during a December 2023 episode of ESPN’s NBA Today, where she had said that the Knicks were still missing an “1A dude.”

“If your best player is small, you’re not winning,” Hammon stated about Brunson, who stands at 6-feet-2.

Meanwhile, Green has watched Stephen Curry produce winning plays for over a decade at the same height. However, it does appear that Green feels Brunson would thrive better playing behind a star, as he did with Luka Doncic in Dallas. That’s the kind of player who will constantly apply pressure on teams and attract the most attention. Jalen Brunson’s doing that right now, but it hasn’t looked as consistent.

Rather, Brunson hasn’t had to bring it every night.

Mike Brown has shifted the culture and gets everyone on the rotation to touch the ball during possessions. The Knicks are a team that has made connective basketball their identity. Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns’ efficient floor general skills have propelled the Knicks into having a free-flowing offense that won’t hinge on one player’s performance. Every starter is up in double-digits for New York.

And that’s been the case across various postseason series. The Knicks have outplayed different styles of rosters, be it the Atlanta Hawks or a deeper Cleveland Cavaliers. Both teams, except for the Raptors, had a ‘1A star.’ The Cavs had Donovan Mitchell while the 76ers had Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid. They didn’t secure a single win against Jalen Brunson and the New York Knicks.

Time for Jalen Brunson to elevate to 1A status

There’s a problem with Draymond Green speaking about the Knicks not having a bona fide star to lead the front lines. Jalen Brunson’s shot-making set the foundation for the Knicks to rush back from a 22-point fourth-quarter deficit against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

It’s not just a single game. Brunson is averaging 9.2 points per game in fourth-quarter scoring. The San Antonio Spurs have also been successful owing to their tremendous young nucleus. But when it comes to a closer, there’s no one comparable to Brunson.

The Knicks are very much a championship threat against the San Antonio Spurs. Jalen Brunson is the biggest obstacle standing in Wembanyama’s way. If not for being a 1A, he wouldn’t have led the Knicks to an 11-game playoff win streak. Those things don’t happen often, and certainly not without a player who’s capable of being the franchise superstar.