The NBA Keeps Looking for the Next Alien While Jalen Brunson Keeps Stealing Their Attention

The NBA has a type. Not a basketball type. A dating-app type.

Tall. Long arms. Looks like he was assembled in a government laboratory somewhere between Area 51 and a Nike focus group.

The league sees a 7-foot-4 unicorn dribbling between his legs and immediately starts printing posters, scheduling commercials, and preparing the "Face of the NBA" coronation ceremony.

Meanwhile, a 6-foot-2 dude is over there collecting trophies like Thanos collecting Infinity Stones, and somehow we're still having the same conversation.

That's what makes Isiah Thomas' recent comments so fascinating or hilarious or both. Because Zeke basically asked the question that has quietly followed the NBA for decades: Why does the league always seem obsessed with finding the perfect physical specimen instead of simply promoting the guy who is actually kicking everybody's butt?

It's a fair question. After all, Jalen Brunson just completed a season that sounds completely made up.

NBA Cup champion

NBA Cup MVP

Eastern Conference Finals MVP

NBA Finals MVP

NBA Champion

The man basically walked into every big moment this season and left carrying hardware. Yet somehow the basketball world still treats Victor Wembanyama like he's the future face of the league.

Now before Spurs fans start throwing breakfast tacos at me, this isn't a shot at Wembanyama. The guy is ridiculous. He's what would happen if Kevin Durant, Hakeem Olajuwon, and a Stretch Armstrong toy got trapped in the same science experiment. He's incredible, but that's exactly Thomas' point.

For decades, the NBA has always seemed more comfortable marketing the giants:

Magic Johnson.

Larry Bird.

Michael Jordan.

LeBron James.

Kevin Durant.

Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Now Wembanyama.

The league loves larger-than-life stars because, quite frankly, they're easier to sell. Humans have always been fascinated by things that don't look human, and Wembanyama definitely qualifies. The problem? Basketball games aren't won during marketing meetings. They're won on the court, and Brunson just spent an entire season reminding everyone of that fact.

What's funny is that Thomas knows this story better than anybody. The Detroit Pistons spent years beating up the NBA's royalty: Bird, Magic, Jordan, it didn't matter. The Bad Boys showed up like the basketball version of that neighbor who keeps ruining everyone's perfect lawn. Yet despite winning championships and wrecking dynasties, Isiah Thomas was never treated as the singular face of basketball. The stars he was beating often received more attention than the guy doing the beating.

Sound familiar? Because we're watching a modern version of it unfold right now.

Brunson just authored one of the greatest seasons by a point guard in recent memory. And the second the confetti stopped falling, everybody immediately resumed discussing Wembanyama's future. It's almost like the NBA collectively looked at Brunson's championship parade and said, "That's nice. Anyway, let's get back to our 7-foot-4 alien."

Again, this isn't anti-Wemby. It's pro-reality. The reality is that fans don't ultimately decide greatness based on height. They decide it based on big moments.

Winning

Performance

Legacy

Nobody remembers the marketing campaign. They remember who hit the shot, who won the series, who raised the trophy, and right now that's Brunson.

What Thomas is really arguing isn't that Wembanyama shouldn't become the face of the league. It's that maybe the NBA shouldn't be so eager to pre-select one before the story actually unfolds. Because sports are at their best when the script gets ripped up.

Nobody expected Brunson to outshine the guy who looks like he was created in a basketball video game's character editor with all the sliders turned to maximum, yet here we are.

The funniest part? The NBA's obsession with finding its next face may be completely unnecessary anyway. This isn't the 1990s anymore. The league doesn't need one superstar carrying the entire sport. Fans can love Brunson. Love Wembanyama. Love Nikola Jokic. Love Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Love Anthony Edwards. Love whoever comes next. The NBA isn't searching for one face anymore. It's running a group project, and honestly, that's probably healthier.

Still, Thomas deserves credit for bringing up the uncomfortable truth: For all the talk about winning, greatness, and championships, basketball has always had a soft spot for giants. The difference is that every once in a while a smaller player comes along and forces everyone to remember that skill doesn't care how tall you are. This season that player was Jalen Brunson. And until somebody takes the crown away from him, maybe he's the one who deserves to be standing in the spotlight instead of waiting politely beside it.