It took Jalen Brunson all of one game to get under the skin of one opposing player.
Detroit Pistons forward Ausar Thompson spoke with reporters after team practice on Sunday. During the session, Thompson was asked about the challenge of defending the New York Knicks star Brunson and responded with some shade, talking about how Brunson supposedly sells fouls.
“Just don’t foul him,” said Thompson of Brunson, per Stefan Bondy of the New York Post. “He’s good at drawing fouls. Well, he’s good at selling – selling – fouls. So you just got to be smarter.”
Thompson, who stands 6-foot-6 with a wingspan of 7-feet, is regarded as Detroit’s top one-on-one defender and thus drew Brunson as his primary defensive assignment during Game 1 of the series on Saturday. But the Knicks ended up beating the Pistons 123-112 as Brunson finished with 34 points and eight assists (including going 8/10 from the free throw line).
At the very least, the two-time All-Star Brunson has certainly mastered the art of getting whistles. He shot a career-high 6.9 free throws per game during the regular season, which ranked fifth in the NBA. That is an improvement over last season when Brunson ranked 12th in the league with 6.5 attempts per game.
But many opposing fans (and some opposing players themselves) believe that Brunson gets to the line so often by embellishing contact. In previous years, other playoff opponents of the Knicks have shaded Brunson over his style of play, and Thompson is now joining that category as well.
