Most underrated player in the NBA Playoffs: De'Aaron Fox? Jrue Holiday? Jalen Brunson? | First Take

Is true holiday the most underrated player in the NBA? No, I think everybody recognizes how great Drew holiday is and has been for years. He's a he's a he's a quiet dude. He does virtually nothing to bring attention to himself. He just goes to work every day shows up and performs at a very elite level usually on a defensive end of the floor. He stepped up this year offensively and had his best offensive season. But when we watch his game, there's nothing new about his game. That we're seeing we're just taking more notice of it because he's had to be more aggressive offensively this year because Chris Middleton obviously hasn't been healthy just like he was hurt last year and Giannis has even missed some games this year. So he's had to step forward and do a little bit more but the bottom line is what he does is what we're accustomed to seeing him do the name that I come to mind is Jalen Brunson who the hell saw that who saw that I mean, it's a shot. I mean, this is going to go down as one of the greatest free agent signings ever. That's how good he has been a point guard for the New York Knicks guides them to 47 wins. This year should have been an all-star averaging 24 game. Okay, that's what this brother has done. And this was a role player. Somebody that was coming off the bench. That was a surgeon in the starter lineup and had to really really come save the day and was first noticed because Luka don't you got hurt last year and he had to save him in the Utah series prior to that Brunson was a role player that obviously was worth 56 million dollars, but nobody was thinking about that now, it's 56 million dollars and their Dallas Mavericks look like fools because you didn't give him that New York Knicks when it gave him a hundred and three million and we're saying he's worth more than that. The New York Knicks are a top 5 seed in the Eastern Conference. The New York Knicks are in the playoffs. The New York Knicks are relevant. And they got to do and that's smiling. If they got it to go and Jalen Brunson right now, that's going to help get them through the first round. Okay, this is who they have and nobody saw that coming from Jalen Brunson. Nobody we have sat here all season long. Literally, the basketball world has been in shock because nobody expected this. That is why I say it's Jalen Brunson. New York stand up, New York stand up. It's the orange and blue skies, baby. It's the orange and blue skies. So you gotta tell you, game two didn't worry you at all. I predicted the Cavs would win that game. The way they did though? No, no, no, I did not, not that way. Okay. I did predict they would win. What I said is this, game three at the Garden, Friday night, let me tell y'all something. I ain't talking about game four, the rest of the series. I'm just talking about game three, Wendy. Cleveland ain't ready for that, not if it ain't Mitchell is, but Cleveland ain't ready for that. That team, they ain't ready for it. New York, baby. Late start. This is what it is. Oh man, late start, 830 start. That place is going to be on fire. It's going to be great tomorrow night. Bananas, absolutely. America, America, I want you to look at your next NBA superstar. He's developing right in front of your eyes. De'Aaron Fox from the Sacramento Kings. He's got a good shot too. He almost won the clutch award unanimously this week, like his coach did, not quite. He's got a good shot to make the all-NBA team when it comes out. This guy is an absolute stud. And you know, I was in Phoenix for games one and two, and Kawhi Leonard looks great. And one of the things that you can really tell that Kawhi Leonard looks great is that he can get to his spots again because you know that when Kawhi Leonard gets his feet into one of those positions, he's going to kill you. De'Aaron Fox has developed something that is worth more than his weight in platinum. He has developed spots that he can get to where he knows he can execute. Now, that's a huge thing to do. I mean, you look at the greats in history who have done that, whether it's Larry Bird, whether it's Michael Jordan, whether it's LeBron James, whether it's Kobe, you knew there were spots that you can get to where they could deliver in the clutch. The issue is doing that when you're under six foot five. When you're under six foot five, getting to your spots is very hard. Steph Curry spots are all in the perimeter. They run those plays. He gets the ball. De'Aaron Fox has developed a killer way to finish games because he gets to his spots with speed. And it's not just running so fast and outrunning everybody. It's the ability to go here and stop here. Set up the opposition. I'm telling you, teams have been setting their, it's not like this guy just woke up yesterday and was good in the fourth quarter. Teams have been setting their defense trying to stop this guy in the fourth quarter for months now, and they cannot do it because he is so fast and can stop so fast. It's the same type of skill as Kawhi's mid-range shot. Kawhi's mid-range shot is so, so impossible to deal with because he puts it up way over his head and he can get it off at a low angle and make it from these spots. De'Aaron Fox has the same skill. When he came into the NBA, he had the floater. He upset big men all over the league when he first came to the NBA because he floated over. Now, he's got that mid-range shot. And in game two the other night, when he basically closed the door with that three, the ball went out to him and he hit it in rhythm. That was a 90% shot that was going in. If you watch the Kings this year, that was 90% that was going in because he plays with such confidence. So this is a huge moment. I know that we're focused on Draymond and we're focused on the Warriors and I think that series is still very much up in the air. But no matter what happens, De'Aaron Fox with a hat tip to Anthony Edwards. What a great game last night and a loss for the Timberwolves, who I think is coming behind him. De'Aaron Fox is a superstar in this league. Here he comes. These NBA playoffs have gone off to a hot start. Today's the anniversary of one of the hottest individual playoff performances of all time. 37 years ago today, Michael Jordan went off scoring 63 points against Larry Bird in the Celtics, the most ever in a playoffs game, but the Bulls still lost in Double OT 135-101. Stephen A, what was the best individual playoff performance ever? I gotta tell you, I'm going to say Jordan because of the 63 and who it was against. In the loss though? In the lost. I'm going to say because of Boston with Bird, McHale, Ainge, Parrish, and the crew. I can go to 80s, but I actually have a tie. I actually have a tie. It's LeBron and that performance against Detroit when he scored 25 straight. I want to throw Isaiah in there because of what he did on the ankle against the Lakers. But the two that stood out in my mind was Jordan and LeBron. Can't go to, can't go to 81. Magic, rookie, playing without the MVP, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, playing out of position, going from point guard to center, dropping 42, 15-7 in game six. Can I tell you why I didn't do that? Why? Because I was, I loved the sixes at the time because I desperately wanted Dr. J to win a championship and I was salty about that and I never liked Daryl Dawkins and Caldwell Jones. That was my reason. You were bitter. It was easy for him to do that to them in my information. You were bitter. You should uproot that hate in your heart. Yeah, it's tough. You should cleanse your spirit.