Brunson Becomes Top Player in NBA; KAT Top 5?

June 16, 2026 LouV Analysis 0
KAT and Brunson -- NBA Champs. Photo courtesy NY Knicks.

With his elite all-time playoff performance in leading the Knicks to the 2025-26 NBA Title, Jalen Brunson is now universally regarded as the Best Player in the NBA.

Rick Pitino said so, and most neutral NBA Analysts are saying so.

  • Knick hater, and El Presidente of Barstool Sports David Portnoy said “Brunson is so far superior to everybody else on the court it’s not even funny.”
  • Former NBA Player Gilbert Arenas said, “(Brunson) has his own city now… LeBron, Jordan, Kobe, Steph, Brunson.”
  • Bill Simmons put Brunson in his list of Top 40 All Time Players.
  • Skip Bayless moved Brunson ahead of SGA as top player in NBA.

Brunson has averaged between 24.0 and 28.6 ppg the last 4 years, and been named All League for 2 straight years — making the 2nd Team All League in 2026 (announced before the playoffs) and many feel he was robbed and should have been on the 1st team.

In this year’s playoffs, he simply outplayed everyone — including dominating Victor Wembanyama in the Finals.

The Case for KAT

By most estimates, Karl-Anthony Towns is a top 1o to top 15 player — and in fact has been named to the All League 3rd Team 3 times — including last year (2024-25). But one could argue after this year’s playoff he has risen to the Top 5.

Here are reasons:

  • KAT is a 6-time All Star and future Hall of Famer who is still in his prime at age 30.
  • KAT has been named to the NBA All League team 3 times — the 7-footer was the center on the 3rd team last year, which means the NBA regards him as a top 11-15 player — and that was last year — KAT’s game rose this year.
  • KAT took it to Wemby in this year’s Finals — so much so that the NBA and its Refs had to take him out of the last 3 games of the series with early ticky-tack fouls that put him in foul trouble. Even Knick hater Shaquille O’Neal — who constantly craps on KAT — waxed poetic about the way KAT took it to Wemby in the 1st 2 games of the Finals.

  • KAT the best 3-pt shooting center ever, in a game where 3-pt shooting is imperative.
  • KAT is one of the best inside-scoring big men in the game, with an amazingly efficient dribble — sometimes he only takes 1 dribble to the basket — the complete opposite of Julius Randle who he replaced in NY. He embodies everything that Red Auerbach used to teach in terms of dribble efficiency to the hoop.
  • KAT is one of the best rebounders in the NBA.
  • KAT is one of the best passing centers in the NBA — and much of the Knick success in the playoffs was due to running the offense through KAT as a point-center at the top of the key. KAT is only surpassed by Jokic for his passing at the center position, and doing the math is one of the best ever.

  • KAT has become a noted good defender at the center position — stifling Jayson Tatum in the 2025 playoffs, and doing a good job in the 2026 playoffs against Joel Embiid, Evan Mobley, and Wemby.
  • KAT has had to sacrifice his scoring average playing alongside Brunson, yet still averages over 20 ppg on 50 pct shooting from the floor; lifetime .399 from 3.
  • KAT helped lead his team to an NBA Title. He is a Great team player, and a Winner.

Top 5 Players in NBA Right Now — June 16, 2026

If you ask 10 people who their Top 5 List is you will get more than 5 players named — probably 8 to 10. Also there are all kinds of ways you can build a Top 5 List — top player right now; top players to build a team for next 10 years; top marketable players, etc.

And ‘right now’ will change by the month. Right now — the 2026 NBA playoffs have just ended — and playoff performances scrambled the list. Here’s my current list:

  1. Jalen Brunson — Best Player in the NBA right now. See above.
  2. Anthony Edwards — the Ant Man is an amazing, athletic player and great shooter who is fun to watch. Played through left knee hyperextension and bone bruise in playoffs and came up clutch in the 4th quarters of games but Minny just didn’t have enough around him, as they lost to the Spurs in the Western Conference Semifinals in 6.
  3. Dylan Harper — was the best player on the Spurs in the Finals. Knicks with all their great Defense, could not stop him. He is rising fast.
  4. Nikola Jokic — one of the greatest centers ever but his intensity seems to be waning the last few years.
  5. Karl-Anthony Towns — see above.

Just Outside Top 5 After Playoffs

  • Cade Cunningham — was top 5 until the final few games against Orlando, when his late game turnovers were key in Detroit getting beat by Cleveland.
  • Shai Gilgeous-Alexander — just named MVP of 2026 season — had a DISASTROUS playoff against San Antonio, flopping all over the place with no calls being made anymore by NBA refs — he became a Meme — making the entirety of the NBA look bad. It was so bad it seems the NBA made a decision to stop giving him calls and that may follow him into next season. He may need to change his game, and stop flopping with nobody touching him.
  • Victor Wembanyama — had a DISATROUS NBA Finals and playoffs in general — he became the NBA’s Villain — the fastest we’ve seen it happen since Ernie Ladd went from good guy to Villain in wrestling in the 1970’s. Videos went viral of all of Wemby’s Dirty Plays — elbowing Naz Reid in the neck, whipping Jose Alvarado to the ground, whipping Jalen Brunson to the ground by the head, and more. On top of it his unsportsmanlike conduct was revealed — videos surfaced that caught him in the huddle twice telling teammates to go after other players and inflict bodily harm. He refused to shake hands with the Knicks after losing the Final game, and then surfaced a video from 2 years earlier when he chucked Jalen Brunson‘s game ball into the stands after Brunson had scored 61 pts. Worst yet — he fizzed out in the 3rd and 4th quarters of each of the games — seemingly spent, and crapped out in the clutch, missing free throws.

    • After the Finals, NBA Analyst Ben Maller said “The unicorn this, the unicorn that, and he (Victor Wembanyama) now looks like a horse headed to the glue factory.”
    • Jason Whitlock said “Gregg Popovich has groomed Victor Wembanyama into an anti-America crybaby, and his dirty play has caused the NBA world to turn on him.”
    • Former NBA player Lou Williams ripped Wemby, saying “We didn’t know he had a little a**hole in his system… we can’t give him or the rest of the Spurs an excuse.”
    • Analyst Jared Smith said “1) The Knicks had a +69 scoring margin in the series from the 2nd quarter on and +26 in the 4th 2) Wemby committed multiple flagrant fouls in the series that weren’t called and didn’t shake a single Knicks player or coach’s hand after they won Grow up
  • Luka Doncic — Possibly extremely overrated. Many Dallas fans felt he was a ball hog and chucker. He has not won in LA. He is top 10 but not top 5. He needs to win a title to move back up into top 5.
  • Paolo Banchero — great all-around player who was having a good playoffs until the 2nd half of the final game against Detroit, when Orlando blew a 24-pt lead and 3-1 game lead in the series because they had.. no leadership.

Just Outside the Top 10:

  • Jalen Johnson — great player on the rise. 6’8 and athletic; can score and rebound. Most casuals have never heard of him but he did make the All League 3rd Team this year. But his Atlanta team got WIPED OUT by the Knicks in the 1st round — losing by over 50 pts in the final game. And orchestrating that damage for NY was KAT.
  • Giannis Antetokounmpo — on the downside of the bell curve. He is 31 years old now heading for 32 and is not the player he was 5 years ago. Can’t hit the 3 (lifetime .285), and is a ball-dominant player who is not an especially good passer. He was booed out of Milwaukee this year and that was before the achilles issues.
  • Jayson Tatum — great all-around player; great 3-pt shooter. KAT outplayed him in last year’s playoffs, stifling him with his D.
  • Jaylen Brown — great player; had another bad playoffs. A lot of Boston fans root for Boston to trade him as he has a reputation for making mistakes in the clutch.
  • Kawhi Leonard — great all around player and 2 time champion, but is often injured and has a checkered past. He became disgruntled in San Antonio and refused to play there his final season — due to injury — causing Greg Popovich to trade (unload?) him to Toronto. He won a title in Toronto, but became disenchanted there. He has not won with the Clippers and been injured often. He is 34.
  • Donovan Mitchell — great all-around player and leads a good Cleveland team that has 3 All Stars (Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen, and James Harden this year; Darius Garland last year. Has been outplayed by Brunson in all playoff matches, especially down the stretch.
  • Tyrese Maxey — super quick and tremendous scorer. One of the exciting players in the game. But his Philly team was wiped off the face of the earth by Brunson and KAT in this year’s playoffs.
  • Jamal Murray — good player. Denver picked him with one of the draft picks they got from NY for Carmelo Anthony.

Ancient History

  • Kevin Durant — wonderful on Twitter. Great player in his prime. He is 38.
  • Joel Embiid — looked like a sinking battleship in this year’s playoffs against the Knicks.
  • LeBron James — still a very good player at age 41. Once upon a time was a freight train with a rocket on the back. Greatest player ever.

 

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