Sports
New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson “never changed” on his rise to stardom
New York has long been known for celebrating great sports icons akin to Babe Ruth, Joe Namath, Joe DiMaggio, Patrick Ewing, Pele, Lawrence Taylor, Derek Jeter, Darryl Strawberry, Walt “Clyde” Frazier and Reggie Jackson. name a couple of. There’s also the present king of the New York sports scene who has little interest in the intense lights of Broadway: Knicks guard Jalen Brunson.
“Nothing would be possible without my teammates, and they and my coaching staff wouldn’t believe in me,” Brunson said.
While these words are somewhat modest, Brunson made a powerful statement by leading the Knicks to the second seed within the Eastern Conference within the NBA Playoffs. On Saturday (ESPN, 6 p.m. ET), the Knicks will begin the playoffs at Madison Square Garden against the Philadelphia 76ers and stars Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey.
Brunson, making his first NBA All-Star appearance, was fourth within the NBA in scoring (28.7 points per game) and thirteenth in assists (6.7) this season. The six-year veteran also scored a career-high 61 points on March 29 against San Antonio. But with fellow All-Star Julius Randle sidelined since Jan. 27 and other key injuries to OGs Anunoby and Mitchell Robinson, Brunson took over the Knicks not only as a scorer, but in addition as captain and the guts and soul of the team.
“He’s the ultimate leader,” Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeaux said. “When you take a look at him, his entire profession and individual achievements, it was off the charts. But the team’s achievements were amazing. He was an ideal teammate in highschool. He was an ideal teammate in college. They won at a really high level in college. He won big in Dallas and brought it here.
“And you’ll be able to’t replace Julius Randle, OG (Anunoby) or Mitch (Robinson) individually. We cannot do it, but we will do it together. And that is what I like about Jalen. He not only brings the most effective out of himself, but in addition the most effective of the team, and typically the most effective team wins. He at all times had this trait and was never satisfied. He at all times thinks he can do higher. Always wanting to learn more. “You can’t say enough about what he did.”
Said Knicks guard Josh Hart about Brunson: “We really just give him the keys and go as far as he goes.”
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The Knicks put their faith in Brunson, signing him to a four-year, $104 million contract after 4 years with the Dallas Mavericks. For Brunson, the trip to New York was also a chance to reunite with his family.
His father, Rick, is an assistant coach on the Knicks staff, and Jalen Brunson has known Thibodeaux since he was 10 years old. In addition to the Knicks, Rick Brunson was an assistant coach under Thibodeaux with the Chicago Bulls and Minnesota Timberwolves. The Knicks even have two of Jalen Brunson’s former Villanova teammates in Hart and Donte DiVincenzo, who love to tease Brunson at every opportunity.
While Brunson’s contract could have looked like overpayment when he signed with the Knicks, his two stellar years make it seem to be he’s underpaid. Playing on the USA Basketball team for the 2023 FIBA World Cup raised his profile. It currently has a national TV ad with AT&T and partnerships with DoorDash, NBA2K, Samsung and Catalina Crunch. Brunson’s T-shirt was the fifteenth bestseller amongst NBA players this season. Renowned filmmaker and Knicks fan Spike Lee also wore a custom-made vest constituted of Brunson’s jersey to games.
Although it’s going to take a while for Brunson to adjust to his celebrity status, he enjoys the love he receives from New York’s royal family.
“When you see celebrities come and sit on the court and hang around with them, I say, ‘Man, I’m an enormous fan.’ And they said, “No, I’m a big fan.” It’s quite surreal at times,” Brunson said. “I’m happy about it. It’s a dream come true. That’s all I want.”
Even though Brunson has shone under New York’s brightest lights, he is not feeding on his rising star or changing who he’s.
“I’ve had the same circle since I came into the league. They make me humble. They keep me grounded. And that’s what I want…” Brunson said about his life since first becoming an NBA star.
“I do various things. But I’m resting. I prepare for matches, I do all of the needed things first. All your extracurricular activities can wait. I’m just ensuring I do my job.
Hart said: “I feel like he’s getting more respect nationally. It was good, but he never changed. He will be the person he has been all along.”
So who deserves credit for Brunson’s humility?
“(My parents) Sandra and Rick Brunson, (sister) Erica Brunson and my wife (Ali Marks Brunson). That’s how I used to be raised. I give them credit. It’s sort of second nature to me,” Brunson said.
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In 4 games against Philadelphia this season, Brunson is averaging 22.3 points, 7.8 assists and three.0 rebounds. Maxey talked concerning the need to contain Brunson in hopes of stunning the Knicks within the upcoming “dogfight” between the longtime rivals.
“It starts with the head of the snake,” Maxey told NBATV. “We saw the season Jalen Brunson had. He was extraordinary. We have to slow it down first.”
Knicks fans will likely include Lee and other stars old and recent. Hart, nevertheless, said Brunson was a greater fit for the blue-collar Big Apple.
“He matches this toughness, this decisiveness, this mentality of not being satisfied and wanting to keep working. That’s a very powerful thing,” Hart said.
Brunson has won at every level of his profession. He led Stevenson High School (Lincolnshire, Illinois) to the 2015 state championship. He won two NCAA championships at Villanova in 2016 and 2018. The biggest challenge of his basketball profession is finally getting one other title banner at Madison Square Garden. The Knicks’ two titles in 1970 and 1973 were won long before the 27-year-old was born.
While Knicks fans have long dreamed of a championship, Brunson says his focus is on the primary game against the Sixers.
“It happens one day at a time,” Brunson said of his title hopes. “Of course I want to get there. Of course, that is goal No. 1.”
Michael Jordan joins NBC Sports as a special co-creator of the NBA relationship when the 2025-26 season begins.
NBC announced this on Monday morning during the presentation in advance at Radio City Music Hall, the network offers in the upcoming television season.
“I am very excited about seeing the NBA in NBC,” said Jordan during a video. “NBA on the NBC was a significant part of my career and I am excited that I am a special co -author of the project. I can’t wait to see you all when the NBA on NBC starts in October.”
NBC returns to wearing NBA after 23 years of absence. He had NBA rights in 1990–2002 and carried all six Jordan championships as a member of Chicago Bulls.
For the first time Jordan joined the network. His performances and comments during the documentary film “The Last Dance” about his occupation and the end of the Bulls dynasty in 1998 created many headlines.
“Michael’s heritage on the field and outside he speaks for herself,” said Rick Cartella, NBC sports president. “We are incredibly proud that he joined our relationship.”
The 11-year NBC agreement with NBA and WNBA begins in October. Peacock will only broadcast games on Monday evening, while NBC/Peacock could have regional double “on Tuesday. NBC and Peacock will also introduce” Sunday Night Basketball “in January.
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Although there have been many questions on why Shedeur Sanders (at the moment is assumed) fell to the fifth round last month NFL Draft, one one who understands that where you offers you the option to be going, just mustn’t be as mandatory as what you do is Tom Brady. Brady, probably the largest playmaker in the history of NFL, winning the 7 Super Bowl championships and diverse league MVP from New England Patrots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, was 199. The draft selection in 2000 NFL Draft. It also happens that he’s a friend and mentor of Sanders.
Brady recently visited Logan Paweł’s “Impulsive” and, truly, about Sanders and why he had fallen in the project up to now. Brady said that this is a formidable query, but nobody knows why he fell up to now in the project, ensuring that he was not involved in any evaluation or process (Brady is the owner of the NFL Las Vegas Raiders, who chosen two other playmakers during the 2025 project). Brady made available that he wrote Sanders to give him advice and perspectives when he was waiting for the alternative.
“I actually wrote SMSEUR because I know him very well and I said:” Old, as whatever happens, wherever you go, it’s your first day. Day 2 has greater than a sketch. ” I had 199. Who can discuss it higher?
Brady, clearly, feeling optimistic about the way forward for Sanders, he drew attention to other great players who weren’t a high variety of the draft.
“Wherever you finish … It’s about your performance. What do you do when you get there? Because you will get there. I was near the best players who were unable to free agents. It was Rodney Harrison. Rodney Harrison was not a great choice. Julian Edelman was not a high choice. Wesker was not a high choice. Danny Amendola. All these guys were phenomena.”
Cleveland Browns chosen Sanders with 144. Choosing a draft and enters the playmaker with five other people fighting for the game time: Joe Flacco, Deshaun Watson, Kenny Picket and the second playmaker Browns chosen in Draft 2025, Dillon Gabriel. Given this crowded space, Brady’s message to Shedeur rings loudly.
“So what is the meaning than an excessive day when many people sell stories and says:” All right, it’s an incredible day and this is a project and it is a vital day and it is a funny and I like the proven incontrovertible indisputable incontrovertible proven proven proven undeniable incontrovertible proven undeniable proven proven undeniable proven undeniable incontrovertible indisputable proven incontrovertible indisputable proven undeniable undeniable undeniable undeniable proven undeniable incontrovertible proven undeniable indisputable indisputable undeniable indisputable incontrovertible indisputable incontrovertible incontrovertible proven undeniable indisputable undeniable proven proven proven proven incontrovertible proven undeniable undeniable proven undeniable incontrovertible undeniable undeniable incontrovertible undeniable undeniable indisputable incontrovertible undeniable indisputable indisputable incontrovertible proven undeniable undeniable indisputable indisputable incontrovertible incontrovertible undeniable indisputable incontrovertible proven proven incontrovertible undeniable undeniable incontrovertible proven proven proven incontrovertible proven proven indisputable proven incontrovertible indisputable incontrovertible undeniable proven incontrovertible undeniable incontrovertible undeniable undeniable indisputable proven incontrovertible proven proven proven incontrovertible indisputable proven proven undeniable incontrovertible proven incontrovertible indisputable undeniable indisputable incontrovertible undeniable proven undeniable incontrovertible proven undeniable undeniable undeniable indisputable proven proven undeniable incontrovertible incontrovertible proven proven proven indisputable incontrovertible undeniable indisputable undeniable undeniable undeniable incontrovertible incontrovertible indisputable indisputable proven undeniable undeniable proven undeniable indisputable incontrovertible indisputable indisputable proven undeniable undeniable incontrovertible indisputable undeniable proven indisputable incontrovertible undeniable proven indisputable proven indisputable undeniable proven proven indisputable indisputable incontrovertible incontrovertible incontrovertible undeniable incontrovertible indisputable indisputable proven incontrovertible proven indisputable incontrovertible proven proven undeniable indisputable incontrovertible undeniable undeniable proven undeniable proven proven incontrovertible incontrovertible proven incontrovertible undeniable proven incontrovertible undeniable proven indisputable indisputable undeniable indisputable indisputable indisputable indisputable indisputable incontrovertible indisputable undeniable undeniable undeniable indisputable indisputable undeniable proven proven proven indisputable incontrovertible undeniable proven incontrovertible indisputable indisputable indisputable proven undeniable undeniable proven proven indisputable indisputable incontrovertible proven undeniable incontrovertible proven incontrovertible incontrovertible incontrovertible incontrovertible undeniable undeniable undeniable proven undeniable proven proven incontrovertible proven undeniable proven proven incontrovertible indisputable indisputable indisputable proven indisputable undeniable indisputable undeniable incontrovertible indisputable incontrovertible proven indisputable proven indisputable undeniable incontrovertible incontrovertible proven incontrovertible indisputable proven indisputable proven proven proven indisputable indisputable undeniable proven incontrovertible incontrovertible indisputable undeniable proven indisputable indisputable proven incontrovertible incontrovertible proven incontrovertible undeniable proven undeniable incontrovertible proven undeniable proven incontrovertible undeniable proven indisputable indisputable undeniable incontrovertible indisputable incontrovertible proven proven incontrovertible undeniable undeniable incontrovertible proven indisputable indisputable incontrovertible proven proven undeniable fact that they watch and see it, but I used to be also there on the day of the second day. “
I hope Sanders took Brady’s word to heart – he clearly values the opinion of his mentor. Perhaps due to this relationship Sanders apparently wears Jersey number 12, He wore the same number of brady during his occupation. During highschool and college, Sanders wore Jersey number 2, who was He has recently retired through the University of Colorado, Where Sanders played his last two years of university football.
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Boston – originally of this month, the ESPN basketball analyst, Jay Williams, raped that the Guardian New York Knicks Jalen Brunson was probably the perfect player in Knicks history.
At that point, Williams gave the impression to be a classic prisoner of the moment. Brunson was spectacular in the primary round in the sport with Detroit Pistons. He scored 40 points and distributed seven assists when Knicks eliminated Detroit on the road.
Brunson followed this performance with a pair of catalytic road performances against the defending master Boston Celtics. On Monday, Knicks defeated a 20-point deficit and defeated Boston in overtime 108-105. On Wednesday, Knicks once more beat the 20-point deficit and defeated Boston 91-90 to incorporate a shocking lead of 2-0 of their series of semi-finals of the Eastern Conference. Celtics and Knicks meet in Madison Square Garden on Saturday for the third match (ABC, 15:30 et)
The benchmarks are amazing. Brunson beat your entire Celtics 17-13 team within the last five minutes of each matches. He scored all six points of Knicks within the last two minutes of match 2, including free kicks from 13 seconds. In Wednesday’s performance Brunson became the primary player since 1997, who scored a minimum of 83 points of the fourth quarter in the primary eight matches of two different Playoff (2024 and 2025). Only two NBA players – Kobe Bryant in 2008 and Stephen Curry in 2023 – achieved this feat and did it just once. Of course, curry and bryant have won many NBA titles, but we’ll come to this later.
The point is that Williams couldn’t be such an excellent prisoner of the moment as originally thought. The deadly defect of his logic is that he jumped over Brunson over Walt “Clyde” Frazier.
You cannot hop over the story.
Nathaniel S. Butler/Nbae via Getty Images
The largest Knick? Brunson could be close.
Walt Frazier Close? This is one other matter. The phrase was not only an excellent player, but just like the legend of Willie Mays baseball, Clyde is a mind-set.
The definition of the most important Knick is a matter of taste of the primary generation. There is a sea of great players Knicks: Bernard King, Patrick Ewing, John Starks, Latrell Spent. The thread that connects all of them is that none of them brought New York the NBA championship. The phrase won just a few championships, and in our business – the activities of sport and games – the championship championship and older buildings begins with the victories of the championship.
On May 8, 1970, New York Knicks won his first NBA championship, beating Wilt Chamberlain-Jerry West-Elgin Baylor Los Angeles Lakers 4-3. It was a series by which the phrase strengthened his heritage, not only as Knick, but as one in all the largest players within the history of NBA.
The game of the seventh series is remembered as a game when the middle Knitis Willis Reed heroically got here out of the tunnel in Madison Square Garden after his torn thigh muscle injected the analgesic. Reed was famous for the primary two shots and played a solid defense at Chamberlain. But the phrase had an incredible performance: 36 points, 19 assists and seven rebounds.
The phrase, who turned 80 in March, would turn out to be known for his stylish clothes, cool behavior and ultra-urban lifestyle, however the race race for his icon won.
During the interview “City Game”, a book about basketball in New York, Frazier told me that winning the championships in New York set a table for the Clyde legend.
“Victory is the key in New York,” he said. “The victory allowed me to turn out to be Clyde. Before we won, I dressed well, but no person focused on it. As a debutant I didn’t play well, so to pacify myself, I went shopping and bought clothes. I didn’t play well, but I still didn’t look good. Nobody focused on it until I won. The victory is a catalyst. When I won in New York, I never forced people. There is or Willis Reed or who heard about us.
Brunson shouldn’t be only against the performances of the Frazier on the pitch, but in addition against the icon of culture, which was a product of a certain time and place in New York and the country. The phrase was perhaps the primary NBA player to develop what we now call the brand. His brand was fashion and style and some cool related to black.
In those days, we, young African Americans, tried to interrupt free from negative psychological frames and concentrate on constructing positive black castles. With processed hair. Some of us wore Dashikis and natural hair. Some of us lined with luxurious cars and overalls made to order. All this was designed to win a positive victorious image of black.
Among the black athletes, there was a burden of riot in 1966–70, illuminated by Boxer Muhammad Ali, in addition to the celebrities of Tommy Smith and John Carlos track on the Olympic Games in 1968. Curt Flood opposed Major League baseball stands and led the pursuit of a free agency.
Clyde was born within the south, but he was not fiery. He decided to quietly express his riot and independence through his brave style.
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These forms of prisons are unthinkable for today’s NBA and WNBA players. Everyone is inspired to be their authentic (black). Brunson wears braids, that are blurred and shouting when he maneuvers within the attack.
The phrase wore brilliant colours and hats with a large brim. Coach Knicks, Danny Whelan, began to call the phrase “Clyde” after the hero within the hit film Bonnie and Clyde in 1967. The name got stuck.
As a player of Frazer-Jak, Brunson-he was not a high-flying Dencker or the fastest. But just like the jazz pianist Thelonius Monk, the phrase had an impeccable sense of time – he knew when to go for theft, he knew when to make a pass and who he knew when to attain.
Timing.
During the break of Wednesday’s game I asked the legendary columnist columnist Bob Ryan, which he considered comparing Brunson and Clyde – more about what he thought in regards to the phrase. Ryan remembered the Knicks 1970-Clinching match. He was there in the primary yr for a rhythm for. Ryan, currently 79, felt the phrase was the primary.
“Walt Frazier was different because he had an alter ego,” said Ryan. “You know, there was Walt Frazier and he was Clyde, and he played and promoted it. He wanted people to learn about him outside the pitch with a wardrobe, which continues to be happening until that day. And so he created a personality. It distinguishes him from virtually everyone.
Ryan was within the Knicks locker room in 1970, when players finally got here from the celebration of the championships on the pitch. “Clyde comes in, and his first words were and I quote literally.” Man, I want beer. ” It was my major lead – said Ryan.
Film creator Joe Brewster and his wife Michele Stephenson fill in a documentary in regards to the phrase and his cultural importance for New York and for black and white communities within the turbulent seventies. At that point there was an incredibly tense atmosphere with a remnant of a racial turmoil, consequences in New York a hostile teacher’s strike, a trash strike and deep divisions over the Vietnam war.
Four days before winning the Knicks Championship, 4 white students of the Kent State University campus were killed and nine were injured by the National Guard in Ohio within the campus. Students were killed during a rally that opposed the growing involvement of the United States within the war.
In New York and in the entire country, the murder only intensified divisions within the matter of war.
“Times were so different and turbulent,” said 70 -year -old Brewster during a telephone conversation. “People were looking for the Savior. Clyde was a guy who was worshiped in the black community because of his black and worship in the white community because of his closeness from white – and black. He was not loud, he was not bad. He was what he needed at that time white to feel safe. Combination of all these factors.”
AP Photo/Charles Krupa
With black and white stars, Knicks was a perfect band on time.
“Walt would not like it if he heard it, but he was” acceptable “by both populations,” said Brewster. “But his game and lifestyle were as black as anyone, together with his Dandyism to his individuality throughout the collective. “
Brewster was reluctant to say that the phrase “did not threaten”.
“It sounds pejorative,” he said, “and he doesn’t really recognize how important it was for the merger of the city.”
The phrase understood the importance of the team. During the identical interview, “Game City Game” told me that he and his colleagues from the Knicks team knew that Knicks were a really needed salvo for the town.
“On Tuesdays and Saturdays we provided an outlet for people,” said Frazier. “Fans could forget about what was happening in the world and to go and support Knicks. Everything stopped on Tuesdays and Saturdays when they played Knicks. Our team was integrated; fans did not see color. We had (Dave) Debusschere, we had (Bill) Bradley. But the Frazier and Reed were the most popular guys in this band in New York.”
Today, New York is torn by the conflict. This time the war in Gaza created deep divisions over the brutal lack of life. Some lie a bloodshed on the foot of the Israeli government, which accuse of genocide. Defenders say Israel has the correct to defend against Hamas. I can only assume that some factions on either side of the conflict can be fans of Knicks.
Madison Square Garden could be the one space in the town where two sides could have the looks of a truce.
The phrase never publicly threw himself into political struggle in the course of the Knicks Championship within the 70s and I think that Brunson won’t be on the side of the present Knicks Championship. After Wednesday’s match in Boston, I asked Brunson if he thought in regards to the potential influence of the unifying influence of Knicks on the town.
He didn’t.
“I want to say that we are aware,” said Brunson. “Of course, we see what happens after matches, after home matches with what fans do, but I will let them do it and we will focus on it.”
Brunson has all of the features that Knicks prefer to assign a franchise form: mental strength, clutch performances. Can Brunson turn out to be the perfect player of Knicks? Probably. Can Brunson ever eclipse the phrase? This is a way more steep challenge.
The reality is that for those who don’t win the brand new York championships, you may just turn out to be one other face in the gang.
