The New York Knicks have finally snagged the NBA championship title after a nail-biting win against the San Antonia Spurs this past weekend. Point guard Jalen Brunson has been crowned the king of the Big Apple after leading the team to victory, scoring nearly half the points in the momentous game. And his determination to succeed on the Knicks was shaped by his father’s own athletic run.
“When the opportunity came about to step into roles that were asked of me, I was ready for it,” Brunson told Men’s Journal a few months ago.
“It’s all about just staying ready. And I think watching my dad growing up and seeing how hard he worked to be in the position he was, it only pushed me to work harder once I got the opportunity.”
The 29-year-old is carving out his own Knicks legacy, following in his father’s footsteps.
Rick Brunson was also a Knicks standout; Jalen watched his dad take the court when New York reached the NBA Finals in 1999, the last time the team made the cut before 2026. He also played for the Chicago Bulls and Portland Trail Blazers across his nine-season career in the basketball league, and by 2007, he decided to hang up his jersey and go into coaching full-time.
