Brunson has sustained elite All-Star caliber play across multiple seasons, averaging 26 PPG and 6.8 APG in 2025-26 while earning All-NBA Second Team honors for the second straight year and winning NBA Clutch Player of the Year. Most definitively, he led the Knicks to the 2026 NBA Finals — their first appearance since 1999 — after sweeping the Cavaliers in the ECF, for which he was named Eastern Conference Finals MVP. The original contract (~$104M/4 years) is now universally regarded as a historic bargain, with Brunson having already signed a modest extension and analysts widely calling it one of the greatest free agent steals in NBA history.

Belichick's UNC finished 4-8 in 2025 — the program's worst record since 2018 — ending a six-year bowl streak and finishing 14th in the ACC. UNC went 0-8 against teams with five or more wins, losing those games by an average of 17 points, and ranked 129th out of 134 FBS teams in total offense. Far from demonstrating a 'huge competitive advantage,' CBS Sports awarded Belichick a 'D' grade, calling him the most hyped hire that failed the worst.

The take was made on May 20, 2026, after the Cavaliers lost Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals to the Knicks (115-104 OT). The Knicks went on to sweep Cleveland 4-0, with the Cavaliers never recovering from their Game 1 collapse. Donovan Mitchell himself lamented that the blown 22-point lead in Game 1 changed the entire tenor of the series.