There was no player more harshly criticized than Jalen Duren in the first round of the 2026 playoffs.
Plenty of others earned critiques with their play, and others still helped send their teams home early by underperforming; it’s going to be quite a long summer for Nikola Jokić in that regard. The young Pistons center is not alone in his struggles to begin the postseason and far from the only one to get an earful from the greater viewing masses. But even so—Duren was torn to shreds.
