When NBA fans think of the greatest NBA Finals performances ever, Michael Jordan, Shaquille O’Neal, Jerry West, Kevin Durant, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Dwyane Wade, Hakeem Olajuwon, Kareem-Abdul Jabbar, Tim Duncan, Larry Bird, LeBron James, and Larry Bird are the kinds of names that come to mind. All-time legends who either were, or are going to be, unanimous first ballot Hall of Famers. But if things keep going the way they have, could a certain Knick buck that trend, and force his name into conversations often reserved for the greatest players to ever play the sport?
After his second dominant two-way performance that was capped off with one of the most memorable plays in Finals history, Anunoby catapulted himself into serious Finals MVP conversations. Through four games, he is averaging 23.8PPG, 4RPG, 1.3APG, 1SPG, and 1.5BPG while shooting 58% from the field, 56% from three, and 92% from the free-throw line. Now, his counting stats don’t pop off the page. Were the Finals to end right now, he’d rank 41st out of the 57 Finals MVPs in scoring, while ranking third lowest in rebounds per game, lowest in assists per game, tied for 36th in steals per game, and tied for 16th in blocks per game. Not a great case to be made for Anunoby being an impressive MVP Finals winner, right?
If you were to take a look at his efficiency, though, that’s where he really stands out among the greats. Anunoby currently has the highest Finals true shooting percentage ever among players who’ve attempted at least field goals, and the highest true shooting percentage among all players who averaged 20+PPG over any four-game stretch in Finals history. Wednesday night, he also became the only player in NBA Finals history to score at least 30 points, make at least seven threes, and do so while shooting 60% or higher from the field. His Game 4 performance was also the third-most threes made in a Finals game ever. The All-Defensive Second Team member is also averaging the sixth most fourth-quarter points per game in the modern era, and joined a lot of the earlier names (West, Abdul-Jabbar, Olajuwon, and Jordan) as the only players in Finals history to score 30 points and score a go-ahead field goal in the final three seconds. He’s done all that on the offensive end while holding De’Aaron Fox, Devin Vassell, Victor Wembanyama, and Derrick Harper all to 46% or lower shooting on a combined 50 attempts as the primary defender.
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As you can see, digging past just the surface-level stats shows just how incredibly efficient and valuable the forward has been. But going back to the original question, where does this rank him among the past Finals MVPs? Despite all of the history he’s made, he still ranks outside the top 30. As mentioned earlier, there are a lot of great players who have averaged more points, assists, and rebounds than him while also averaging more steals and or blocks. Even with the unrivaled efficiency and great defense, it doesn’t make up for some of the stats that he lacks. Now, that’s not completely fair because part of that is a lack of volume and his role.
But that is precisely one of the things that is also hurting him. Those two things, while holding him back from potentially averaging more points and assists, could be argued as one of the main reasons for his efficiency. That doesn’t do Anunoby justice, and it discredits his incredible play and all of the work he has put in. If you go back and look at the shots Anunoby has converted on, it’s not like he’s wide open on all of them. He isn’t just a spot-up shooter being spoon-fed easy looks. He’s still taking and making very difficult shots that are often heavily contested or off the dribble. But the truth is, he doesn’t face the kind of game planning or attention that guys like Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns have faced. Those two are tasked with having to do more offensively in terms of self-creation and creation for others. That doesn’t fully take away from what Anunoby has done and the undeniably pivotal role in helping the Knicks go up 3-1.
When taking in all of that context into account, I do think it kind of comes down to subjectivity. To someone who prioritizes role, gravity, and attention, players with similar stats, even at the cost of efficiency, may win out. To others who may prioritize raw stats, Anunoby could easily win out. I think his Finals MVP, if it continues on a similar trajectory, would be better than those of Paul Pierce, Chauncey Billups, Jaylen Brown, Cedric Maxwell, Willis Reed (1973), Andre Iguodala, Wes Unseld, and a player he’s recently been compared to, Kawhi Leonard. Tony Parker, for me, is a great comparison, averaging 24.5PPG, 5.RPG, and 3.3APG in 2007, while shooting 56.8% from the field, and 57.1% from three. He wasn’t the defender Anunoby is, but he was also tasked with initiating way more than Anunoby is. And that should place him right around the 40th to 45th best, especially because stat and pace inflation should be taken into account as well. That may seem low, but for a player who was unranked by many high school recruiting sites and was drafted 23rd overall, that’s still quite an unexpected accomplishment.
Overall, though, it’s an interesting conversation, and one that also shines some light on the makeup of the Knicks and what makes them so good. Brunson is the obvious best player and engine of this team, but he isn’t burdened with as much responsibility as some of the other names mentioned above, and as much as I hate to say it, nor is he as good as those guys were. But what Brunson and the Knicks do have is an incredibly talented team with depth and multiple players who can give you 20 points on any given night. We’ve seen Brunson, Towns, Anunoby, Mikal Bridges, Josh Hart, and Deuce McBride do it, and we’ve seen Landry Shamet get close. It’s a team that can beat you in multiple ways and often does.
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With how close the Finals MVP race looks right now, there’s a very real chance Brunson ends up with it, especially since he’s also the captain, the best player, the biggest name, and the main ball handler/creator. But it is coming down to the wire. If the Knicks, who currently are a -500 to win the Finals on FanDuel, close it out and Anunoby takes home the award, it will make for some very interesting conversations about how to evaluate secondary and tertiary creators when it comes to Finals MVP.
