| Stephen A. Smith trumpeting his own celebrity and influence to minimize his beloved team — "I am a bigger star than most of the New York Knicks," he boasted earlier this month — was typically egotistical and typically antagonistic.
It also was correct.
The ESPN shouter boasts nearly 5 million Instagram followers and another 6 million on Twitter. The Knicks do not have one player who eclipses one million on either social network.
The Knicks, up to eight wins in a row and third place in the East, have been building their most promising team in at least a decade through solid drafting (Mitchell Robinson, Quentin Grimes), through savvy free-agent pickups (Donte DiVincenzo, Isaiah Hartenstein) and trade additions (Josh Hart, OG Anunoby) and by identifying talented players who could make the leap into something more (Julius Randle, Jalen Brunson).
They have not built themselves up — at least not yet — through acquiring star power.
It's a smart way to build a team. It's a poor way to build an All-Star team.
 Jalen Brunson scored 29 points Tuesday night as the Knicks beat the Jazz, 118-103, for their eighth win in a row.
AP
Brunson learned as much last week. The outstanding point guard probably did enough on the court to be named a starter for the Eastern Conference, but may not have done enough off the court to win the honor.
Brunson — averaging 26.8 points on 48.1 percent shooting (including a career-best 42.2 percent mark from 3-point range) with 6.5 assists and 3.8 rebounds per game after the Knicks put the finishing touches on a rollicking 14-2 month of January — finished second in media voting and third in player voting for what is a two-man backcourt.
But fans accounted for 50 percent of the vote, which is where Brunson ran into trouble. Fans across the globe placed Brunson a distant fifth, behind Tyrese Haliburton, Trae Young, Damian Lillard and Donovan Mitchell, which ensured Haliburton and Lillard would be the East's starting backcourt.
Brunson is averaging more points on more efficient shooting than Lillard and does not have a player like Giannis Antetokounmpo to draft off (notwithstanding DiVincenzo's 33-point outburst and Hart's 10-10-10 triple-double in Tuesday night's win over the Jazz).
But Brunson also does not have a following like Lillard, who has 10.3 million people awaiting his every thought on Instagram. Brunson has around 370,000 followers.
Maybe that disparity of 9,930,000 is a starting point toward explaining why Lillard received nearly 800,000 more votes from the fans.
 Bucks guard Damian Lillard, with signature gestures and a massive social media following, garnered the final spot as an All-Star starter.
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"People are starting to pay attention to some things off the field rather than on the field," said Brandon Brown, a clinical assistant professor of sport management at NYU and president of the Sport Marketing Association. "And I think that's kind of where sports consumers are these days. I think they care more so about, I guess, ancillary activities or extensions rather than the core product."
Off the court, Lillard is seen on national commercials for products such as Gatorade, Foot Locker and Modelo. Off the court, Lillard helped LeBron James and some pals beat the aliens in the "Space Jam" sequel. Off the court, Lillard and Adidas have partnered to release eight editions of his signature basketball sneakers. Off the court, Lillard's jersey has been the 10th-best-selling jersey for the first half of this season, according to the NBA.
It's a lot harder to find commercials Brunson has appeared in. It's infinitely harder to find Brunson's signature shoes because they do not exist: He often has worn sneakers from the Kobe Bryant line. Brunson's jersey did not crack the list of the 15 best-selling jerseys thus far this season.
For many reasons, Brunson's off-court starpower is not matching his on-court starpower. Consider the Instagram followings of the four Eastern Conference guards who received more votes than him:
- Tyrese Haliburton (692,000 followers)
- Trae Young (5.1 million followers)
- Lillard (10.3 million)
- Donovan Mitchell (3.8 million followers)
The outlier among the group is Haliburton, whose social-media imprint is smaller — but that is changing.
 Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton's celebrity has increased significantly this season, which included a run to the In-Season Tournament final.
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The budding superstar is enjoying a breakout season that has come with breakout recognition. The world watched as he became a household name in the In-Season Tournament, in which the Pacers guard averaged 26.7 points, 13.3 assists and 4.9 rebounds in carrying his team to the title game.
Though the Pacers lost to the Lakers, the stage was won by Haliburton, who introduced himself to the country and beyond as the newest superstar in the NBA.
"Tyrese Haliburton is now a name that everyone knows," Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle told reporters after the IST title game in December. "He's going to be in the conversation for a lot of things from All-Star to All-NBA to MVP."
Brunson has not been on the same kind of stage from which so many have launched. He has made a conference finals just once, with the Mavericks in 2022, when Dallas was shoved aside by Golden State in five games. Brunson had a fine series, but played second fiddle to Luka Doncic (8.6 million Instagram followers), whose shadow Brunson lived in before arriving in New York.
In New York, Brunson has established himself as arguably an on-court superstar. But even his game — filled with starts and stops and maximizing angles rather than racing by someone; filled with an assortment of nifty moves around the hoop because his dunks don't come easy — doesn't always lend itself to the way most fans today absorb the games.
"The majority of following is taking place in different consumption methods, either watching TV or following online," Brown said over the phone on Tuesday. "...On-field play doesn't necessarily drive [brand-building] results anymore.
"Even if it leads to a championship — I think that that championship in and of itself represents the glitz and the glamour and represents something greater than on the-field play."
 Jalen Brunson is adored in New York, but the NBA now has a global pool of customers.
Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post
There isn't a ton of glamour to Brunson's game. Casual fans in China probably prefer Lillard's impossibly deep 3 to help his then-Blazers team move on in the playoffs (a dagger that came packaged with a memeable moment, Lillard staring stoically into the camera as the world around him exploded).
Casual fans in China probably prefer the long-term greatness of LeBron James (159 million Instagram followers). And the highlight-reel phenom that is Stephen Curry (56 million). And the dribbling magic and, uhh, creative theories of Kyrie Irving (19.8 million), who reminds that being polarizing often also means being interesting.
Brunson came to New York, the biggest stage of all, and did not receive the Big Apple bump that welcomed so many athletes before him. It is not that the game has changed but the fandom: New Yorkers voting for All-Star starters are not just competing with fans in, say, Milwaukee, but billions of fans across the globe who might not know Brunson's name — while they are well-aware of "Dame Time."
"Local regions aren't as important as they used to be," Brown said.
 Damian Lillard, going back to his time in Portland, has a substantial commercial presence.
Getty Images
More important than ever, for athletes' brands at least, is caring about your public image. Some athletes double as fashion moguls and make headline-worthy entrances into arenas, which furthers their reach. Some dabble in acting or singing, finding other revenue streams. Some hire teams of social-media managers to ensure each moment is captured and shared in the most pristine and engaging manner possible.
Probably worth noting about Brunson's low Instagram following is his comparatively sparse 353 posts. Lillard is approaching 5,000.
"A lot of players just don't care," Brown said. "Maybe they're just fine getting their contracts and being OK with it."
Today's back page  New York Post
Playing angry The biggest story around New York baseball on Tuesday involved a video that circulated from a Braves fan event, in which former Mets catcher Travis d'Arnaud was asked the opponent that makes him "the most angry."
D'Arnaud allowed a slight smile and then did not speak for about 18 seconds.
"New York Mets," he answered, to in-person cheers and virtual pitchforks as word made its way to Mets fans.
To be clear: That is the extent of the video. There are no further jabs thrown the Mets' way. There is no suggestion the Mets did him wrong. The entirety of the exchange entails d'Arnaud admitting that the only major league team with which he long had been employed — a team that cut him in 2019 — provided extra motivation.
Enough rage from Mets fans reached d'Arnaud that he had to respond — because the acknowledgement of a very human trait is apparently not permissible.
"And mad at myself for not finishing 2015 with a WS title," he wrote on Instagram. "Mad at myself for not playing well…"
 Braves catcher Travis d'Arnaud would only be human if he derived extra motivation from playing the Mets.
Getty Images
Athletes will find motivation in anything, and it's only natural to receive extra juice facing a team that gave up on them. They don't need to mentally hash out whether the DFA was warranted; they should always be confident that they are a team's best option, even if it is untrue.
The world is ready for spring training and more justified anger from baseball fans.
Buying the Birds The biggest story around non-New York baseball on Tuesday involved the reported potential sale of the Orioles.
In a significant development first reported by Puck, John Angelos has finally agreed to sell a team he was refusing to invest in. According to the report, the Angelos family will be selling to private equity billionaires David Rubenstein and Mike Arougheti.
The Baltimore Banner reported Cal Ripkin Jr. is part of the new ownership group.
An organization with perhaps as bright a future as any went for $1.725 billion.
There are a lot of steps to reach before the sale becomes official, and there is no timetable for the power to change hands. And at the moment, not a ton is known about how this new group would operate.
 The young and terrific Orioles may be able to look forward to additional investment in the roster under new ownership.
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But it is hard to believe any owner could be worse than Angelos, whose Orioles hold the 29th-highest payroll among 30 teams — despite the Orioles being the reigning AL East champions, flush with young talent and in desperate need of an ace. Angelos has declined to try to improve the team, so he should step aside.
John Angelos' father, Peter, bought the Orioles for $173 million in 1993, and his son will sell the organization for nearly $2 billion three decades later.
Remind yourself of this the next time a baseball owner claims he or she does not have money to splurge on a free agent.
What we're reading 👀 🏀 Kevin Durant returns to Barclays Center on Wednesday night uncertain how he'll be received by the Nets fans in the building.
🏈 A quarterback is in play for the Giants with the No. 6 pick in the NFL Draft.
🏒 Attorneys for Devils forward Michael McLeod said he planned to plead not guilty on sexual assault charges in the case roiling the world of hockey.
🏒 Does a potential Rangers trade for Flames center Elias Lindholm, a prized deadline rental, really make sense for a flawed roster? The Post's Larry Brooks has concerns.
🏀 St. John's (13-7, 5-4 Big East) isn't ducking the NCAA Tournament talk with a trip to Xavier on tap for Wednesday night.
🏀 This didn't look great for Joel Embiid.
⚾ There won't be a Justin Turner reunion for the Mets.
⛸ Remember the ice skating doping mess from the 2022 Olympics? They're re-awarding the medals, and it's still a mess.
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