The legend of Jalen Brunson is real. The New York Knicks guard has been a godsend for the once star-deprived franchise.
The former five-star recruit who helped the Villanova Wildcats win NCAA titles in 2016 and 2018 blossomed into one of the true impact performers in the NBA, on the precipice of leading the Knicks to their first NBA title since 1973.
Brunson is a perfectionist of sorts who’s been trained his entire life by his dad and current Knicks assistant coach Rick Brunson, a former 10-year pro who also played for the Knicks the last time they reached the NBA Finals in 2000.
The push Brunson got from his dad has made him the player we see today, one who immediately became the Knicks’ franchise player upon arrival in the Big Apple.
Brunson’s ascension to top dog hasn’t been easy. He was ridiculed, devalued and laughed at by media when the Knicks acquired him from the Dallas Mavericks. Everybody from Nick Wright to Michael Wilbon had jokes for the Knicks and swore that the diminutive guard wouldn’t be the impact player to lead the team out of years of mediocrity.
However, now that the team is up 2-0 over Victor Wembanyama’s San Antonio Spurs with Game 3 tonight back at Madison Square Garden, Brunson will be coming home to a hero’s welcome, ready to make more analysts (and WNBA coach Becky Hammon) eat crow. If not that, a NYC sewer rat would do.
Brunson’s dad being a coach on the team had been described by some haters as daddy ball. In fact, some suggested that Rick Brunson’s presence on the team was divisive and media reported on this as if it was true. They claimed he had too much say on the team and that rubbed players the wrong way.
Of course we see now that was all hogwash and the Brunson family — father and son — is living a dream and the two are about to become the kings of New York.
In a recent interview, Rick says he is somewhat shocked by his son’s ascension, even though he always pushed him extremely hard to be the best. He also recalls the 1999 run with the Knicks 27 years ago.
“I remember it like it was yesterday. Being here turning to win a championship,” Rick Brunson recently said in an interview on “Good Morning America” with Jalen by his side.
“But now I would say it’s more exciting for me as a father to see my son on this stage performing…it’s exciting for us for me and my family, so it’s great.”
Getting to this point took a lot of hard work and the older Brunson pushing his son to levels one could never imagine.
“It’s crazy to me, “ Rick said of his son’s rise. “I never imagined to this level.”
Jalen Brunson’s Father Worked Him Hard As A Kid
Joining former NFL player Nate Burleson for the “Talk of the Table” segment during 2024, along with his mom and dad, Brunson got into the dynamic of how he’s become the player we see today.
His mother Sandra says at an early age Jalen had a desire to be in the family business, but she thought her husband’s disciplinary approach would make her son hate basketball.
Instead, it helped him develop a tough shell and even stronger mental fortitude.
Rick Brunson started asking Jalen what he wants to do for a living in the seventh grade and his mom tells CBS, Jalen was “relentless and meticulous.”
“Even when we didn’t go to games, he would pack his bag … a duffel…we are talking about a 4-year-old packing a duffel and wearing like a little vest or blazer, and say ‘mom I’m going to my game.’ And it would just be down the hall.”
Jalen Brunson Says It Was “Trauma” Being Coached By NBA Dad As A Kid
When asked what it was like being trained by his former professional baller dad, Brunson didn’t sugarcoat his answer.
”Trauma,” he jokingly replied.
“He made me work out in the summer sun with a weight vest on. He’d always ask me how much I really wanted it and that there was no handouts.”
Brunson said at times it angered him a bit because Rick had the keys to an air-conditioned gym but refused to let him get comfortable by working out in there. Says his dad made him grind and want it, and because of that he doesn’t feel pressure.
“When it comes to basketball, I don’t feel pressure at all.”
Kids often resent parents who push them past the limits of what they see possible for themselves. That dynamic hasn’t hurt Brunson’s career at all and it hasn’t hurt the relationship between assistant coach and player or father and son.
Jalen told ABC correspondent Will Reeve that “our relationship is unique. People think because he pushes me so hard that we don’t say things to each other. I wouldn’t trade anything for the world. We have the best relationship. Even when it seems like we are fighting it’s just a coach and player trying to get to the promised land”
The older Brunson admits that despite the trials, tribulations and success, Jalen has surpassed his wildest expectations.
For Jalen, the humility is still there as he called his performance in the first two playoff wins in San Antonio “subpar.”
That’s a scary thought considering he’s led the Knicks to 13 straight playoff wins and one of the most dominating runs in history.
Brunson says he’s “super proud” of his son, but also says “the journey isn’t finished.”
