Knicks Analytics

Jalen Brunson’s skill grades this season via @The_BBall_Index:

Jalen Brunson stats vs the Pacers as a Knick (including playoffs): 31.2 points 48%/39%/82% (58% TS) 5.1 assists (2.5 turnovers) 2.1 rebounds 7-6 record +42

Thank you for your service.

Jalen Brunson vs. the Sixers in the playoffs: 🔔35.5 points 🔔9.0 assists (2.8 turnovers) 🔔4.5 rebounds 🔔0.7 steals 🔔0.2 blocks 🔔4-2 record

STATEMENT FROM RJ BARRETT STATS: With all going on in the world, it is silly and comes from a place of immense privilege to let something that amounts to a sports business transaction occupy so much headspace and so many words. But for the die hard fans, who follow a team every single day, the players can feel like family - even if they’ll never interact with us in our entire real lives. I’m sure I am not the only one that invested a lot of emotion into Rj Barrett (forever spelled Rj, not RJ, as that’s how he himself represents his name on his socials). Back in 2019, the Knicks were the worst team in basketball, in seemingly the best year for it, with then-generational prospect Zion available in the upcoming draft, not to mention pipe dreams of KD (don’t you regret not coming to the Knicks) and Kyrie (I’d rather have Frank Ntilikina). Things didn’t work out the way many hoped, and Rj was the consolation prize. From day one, he was the dream player for any fan to hitch a fandom wagon to. He was classy, passionate, a hard worker, and seemed really excited to be a Knick, buying into the culture and city from the jump, when he said the player in the NBA he’d most like to dunk on was Kristaps Porzingis. For many of us, through the ups and downs, Rj was and has been truly the face of the new-era, “we here” team, and the return to relevance after the tanking years. He represented the heartbeat and ethos of the team for a fan, joining at just 19 years old, and fans watched him grow for years, from their highest draft pick since Ewing, to their first 1st-round extension since Charlie Ward. He represented the boundless optimism of future growth and success for a historically cursed team and fanbase. This Twitter account started as a joke, just posting his statline after each game, and of course letting folks know whether or not he played basketball that night. It became something that brought me personally a lot of joy, frustration, and a great sense of community with the people I’d interact with here. The photo album amassed on my phone of photos of this young Canadian man is somewhat concerning, just to find the perfect pic to post after each exhilarating - or crushing - performance. During the offseason, I’d spend hours scraping videos from box score source codes on NBA.com, so that I could post “one bucket every day until he played basketball again” (to the dismay of my now-wife) just for a few silly internet points, and to in some way enjoy the Rj Barrett Stats experience year round. The number of people who have gravitated to this account will forever be a shock (although as my real-life friends can attest, I won’t say it’s been “humbling”). I’m so grateful for those who allowed it to become what it ended up becoming, but especially Rj himself. As I’ll be the first to tell you, his tenure in NYC didn’t go as many hoped, but he was always the type of person that you just felt good rooting for and believing in. I’ll continue to root for him wherever he goes and am glad he gets to go back home, if anywhere outside New York. I did consider shutting this account down, and I know many probably think that’s the right move. However, I’ve always considered myself a Knicks fan first and foremost, and so it feels right to keep something going, which is why I’ve decided, for now, to rebrand. What’s even more crushing is that for years, I always knew Immanuel Quickley would be the obvious replacement for this account if Rj ever left. To see him and his joy for the game also gone pushes the dagger deeper. We’ll see how it goes. Given Jalen Brunson is already an established star, I know the feeling just won’t be the same - but maybe Rj deserves for this account to feel like something has been missing. If you made it this far reading the statement of a silly Twitter account, I truly thank you. I look forward to hopefully continuing interacting throughout this season and those to come. Sincerely, Rj Barrett Stats