{"id":352520,"date":"2025-12-16T21:20:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-16T21:20:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/352520\/"},"modified":"2025-12-16T21:20:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-16T21:20:08","slug":"knicks-reveal-what-theyll-do-with-nba-cup-money-im-going-to-pay-my-rent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/352520\/","title":{"rendered":"Knicks reveal what they\u2019ll do with NBA Cup money: \u2018I\u2019m going to pay my rent\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Athletic has live coverage of Spurs vs. Knicks<\/a> in the 2025 NBA Cup final.<\/p>\n

LAS VEGAS \u2014 The monetary reward that comes with advancing through the NBA Cup fuels Jalen Brunson, but not for the reasons you might think.<\/p>\n

The Knicks\u2019 superstar guard has a lot of money. His NBA salary is enough to tend several generations of Brunsons. That\u2019s not even including his endorsements. Any item Brunson wants to splurge on, he can. He doesn\u2019t need to advance to the end or win the NBA Cup to do that.<\/p>\n

The money fuels Brunson because of what it can do for other people in New York\u2019s organization, people who are like you and me. Only the main-roster players and head coach get the $530,000 that comes with winning the NBA Cup \u2014 second-place finishers get, roughly, $212,000 and quarterfinalists get just north of $50,000.<\/p>\n

Not every coach earns a cut of the pie, and only two-way players get a certain percentage. The trainers, massage therapists, nutritionists and even public relations staff don\u2019t get anything. These are the people on the periphery who help make it so Brunson can play at a high level and earn enough money to take care of generations.<\/p>\n

Those people matter to Brunson.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a lot of guys and coaches who don\u2019t make as much as some guys on this team, so it\u2019s an added bonus for them as well,\u201d Brunson said. \u201cYou\u2019re not just playing for yourself, you\u2019re playing for an entire team.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, as a player who is fortunate to make a lot of money, have you talked to other players in the same boat about taking care of those who don\u2019t get money with your earnings?<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, we have,\u201d Brunson said during the NBA Cup media availability on Monday (not all players were made available to the media). \u201cThanks for ruining the surprise.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the vast majority of NBA players, $530,000 isn\u2019t anything to sneeze at. For some, that can be anywhere from a quarter to half of the money players make each year. Yes, relatively speaking, that\u2019s still a lot of money, but for someone like Tyler Kolek, a 2024 second-round pick, that money goes further than it would for someone like Karl-Anthony Towns.<\/p>\n

Before taxes, Kolek makes just north of $2 million per season. After taxes, that number is almost cut in half, making the NBA Cup reward money a somewhat significant chunk of his annual salary.<\/p>\n

Last season, when the Knicks made it to the quarterfinals of the NBA Cup, a benchmark that gave players just a little more than $50,000, Kolek used the extra income to get his mother a car for Christmas.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow, this time, my dad might want something,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Josh Hart is doing well for himself financially. He\u2019s made $10 million per year over the last five seasons. However, the Knicks\u2019 best run in the NBA Cup since it started has come at a good time for the veteran.<\/p>\n

Back in September, Hart was robbed while staying in the Dominick Hotel in SoHo<\/a>. Three watches and jewelry worth approximately $185,000 were stolen from his room.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll buy a watch,\u201d Hart, an avid watch collector and wearer, said. \u201cI got robbed in September with no gun. I lost three watches so I have to start replacing those. We\u2019re in Vegas. If I put it on a hand of blackjack, I might be able to double it and get more watches.\u201d<\/p>\n

Towns has plans to donate his money to help the people of the Dominican Republic. Towns, who was born in New Jersey but plays internationally for the Dominican Republic because of his late mother\u2019s roots, has earned approximately $300 million in NBA salary.<\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly, I\u2019ll probably give it to the Dominican Republic,\u201d Towns said. \u201cThey have \u2018Go Sports\u2019, \u2018Go Ministries\u2019 over there. I feel very confident knowing the money will go over there and take care of the kids in the D.R. I would love to win so I can give them more money and help the community over there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some players said they\u2019re not sure yet what they\u2019ll do with the money. Mitchell Robinson said that he\u2019s going to save his. \u201cMaybe,\u201d he later added. Mikal Bridges, jokingly, said that he might try to buy one of Mitchell Robinson\u2019s trucks. OG Anunoby doesn\u2019t know what he\u2019ll do with his money.<\/p>\n

However, NBA veteran Jordan Clarkson, who is currently on a vet-minimum deal, knows what he\u2019s going to do with his earnings.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to pay my rent, fa sho,\u201d Clarkson said with a smile. \u201cThey can just have the whole thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

The NBA Cup might still be finding its bearings in how it should operate and how it\u2019s perceived. However, one positive that\u2019s hard to dispute is that, for some people, it brings about a life-changing opportunity. Yes, the rich get richer. Yet for those workers in the background, those lower-level coaches and even the players at the end of the bench who are fighting for their livelihoods each night, it\u2019s just another example of how humanity in sports is worth cherishing.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a great opportunity, especially for the young guys,\u201d Bridges said. \u201cThey\u2019re just getting into the league. This is a way to make some money. I think it\u2019s really good for them.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Athletic has live coverage of Spurs vs. Knicks in the 2025 NBA Cup final. LAS VEGAS \u2014…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":352521,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[64,63,590,1666,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-352520","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-nba","11":"tag-new-york-knicks","12":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/352520","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=352520"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/352520\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/352521"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=352520"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=352520"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=352520"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}