{"id":869561,"date":"2026-08-26T23:08:15","date_gmt":"2026-08-26T23:08:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/869561\/"},"modified":"2026-08-26T23:08:15","modified_gmt":"2026-08-26T23:08:15","slug":"jalen-brunson-is-an-nba-champion-sandra-brunson-has-seen-the-magic-in-the-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/869561\/","title":{"rendered":"Jalen Brunson is an NBA champion. Sandra Brunson has seen the magic in the work"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

There were plenty of VIPs at the Second Round Foundation<\/a> charity golf event earlier this month. However, one first-time guest drew much of the attention: the NBA\u2019s Larry O\u2019Brien Championship Trophy.<\/p>\n

Guests stopped to take photos with the trophy throughout the day at Westchester Country Club in Rye, New York. A few feet away, family members, coaches, mentors and longtime friends traded stories about the habits and relationships that helped New York Knicks<\/a> guard Jalen Brunson<\/a> hoist it.<\/p>\n

Winning an NBA title still hasn\u2019t fully sunk in for Brunson.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember one time just driving and then [it] just popping into my head like \u2018Damn, you really did it,\u2019\u201d the 29-year-old Knicks star said.<\/p>\n

While the trophy drew plenty of attention, Brunson spent the day surrounded by family, friends and supporters who knew him long before he became an NBA champion and New York City legend. <\/p>\n

Ask Sandra Brunson, Jalen\u2019s mother, what this level of success has revealed about her son, and she will tell you it has little to do with what\u2019s changed.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s true to form,\u201d Sandra said. \u201cIn times of achievement and accolades, never forgetting about what\u2019s important.\u201d<\/p>\n

One thing that hasn\u2019t changed is his competitive streak. Basketball may be the obvious example, but Sandra says tennis, ping-pong, Uno and even Scrabble bring out her son\u2019s desire to win. That competitiveness apparently extended to Mario Kart, where Brunson declared himself \u201cundefeated\u201d and pointed to his Knicks teammates as proof. Sandra, meanwhile, said she has retired her Nintendo Switch.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s that drive and that never-quit attitude that he has that transcends the basketball court,\u201d Sandra said of her son.<\/p>\n

\"JalenJalen Brunson (left) and Sandra Brunson (right) speak with Andscape\u2019s Sheila Matthews during the Second Round Foundation charity golf event at Westchester Country Club in Rye, N.Y. <\/p>\n

Malik Buie\/Red Summer TV<\/p>\n

\"RickNew York Knicks assistant coach Rick Brunson (left) and former Villanova men\u2019s basketball coach Jay Wright share a conversation during the Second Round Foundation charity golf event at Westchester Country Club in Rye, N.Y.<\/p>\n

Malik Buie\/Red Summer TV<\/p>\n

Long before that competitiveness showed up on an NBA court, Brunson was trying his hand at just about everything. His forthcoming children\u2019s book, Jalen Plays It All, revisits the different sports he tried growing up before finding his way to basketball. Not every sport stuck, but quitting halfway through wasn\u2019t an option. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou may not like everything that you do, but at least finish out what you\u2019ve said you would,\u201d Brunson said.<\/p>\n

His parents also made sure the right people were around him along the way. Sandra recalled seeking teachers, coaches and mentors who could help bring out the best in her children. Those relationships stuck. Brunson said he still keeps in touch with every coach he\u2019s had, dating back to middle school.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the kind of support the Brunson family now hopes to extend to other young people through the Second Round Foundation. Its name is intentional: Brunson was selected three picks into the second round of the 2018 NBA draft.<\/p>\n

Founded in 2022 by Brunson and his family, the foundation creates opportunities for young people through education, sports and community programs, focusing on under-resourced and underestimated youth.<\/p>\n

For Sandra Brunson, the goal is to help young people see possibilities beyond what is expected of them. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe want them to be more than what society may deem them to be,\u201d she said. \u201cWhatever it is, we want them to be great at it.\u201d<\/p>\n

That drive to be great doesn\u2019t leave much room for a true day off. Sandra joked that her son\u2019s \u201cperfect off day is still an on day,\u201d and Brunson agreed. Even on days off, he said he usually finds his way to the gym for recovery, weightlifting or shooting.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s how I\u2019m wired,\u201d Brunson said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"JalenJalen Brunson (left) addresses guests at the Second Round Foundation charity golf event.<\/p>\n

Malik Buie\/Red Summer TV<\/p>\n

\"AliAli Marks Brunson (left) and Andscape\u2019s Sheila Matthews (right) during the Second Round Foundation charity golf event at Westchester Country Club in Rye, NY.<\/p>\n

Malik Buie\/ Red Summer TV<\/p>\n

His wife, Ali Marks Brunson, agreed that a basketball-free day is rare. When one happens, she said their ideal version is pretty simple: coffee, a stroller walk with their daughter, a nap when she naps, and sushi followed by a movie. During the offseason, she added, Jalen especially enjoys early-morning beach walks with their two dogs, describing the time as \u201cvery relaxing\u201d and \u201cserene.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Monica McNutt, who covers Brunson and the Knicks as an ESPN analyst and radio host for MSG Network, his story is about the people around him and the hours he\u2019s put into his craft. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe magic truly is in the work,\u201d McNutt said, pointing to Brunson\u2019s diligence and \u201cthe support system around him.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Brunson, that support goes both ways. When asked what makes him most proud of his mother, he pointed to the dedication and attention to detail she has poured into the Second Round Foundation over the years. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I do on the court has helped this foundation,\u201d Brunson said. \u201cBut she\u2019s the real deal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sheila Matthews is an on-air contributor covering entertainment and sports culture. On red carpets, in locker rooms, in late-night arenas, she’s just as interested in the personalities as the performances. Most of her best ideas start as a screenshot, a voice memo or a note in her phone that reads something like, “Which athlete would survive reality TV?”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There were plenty of VIPs at the Second Round Foundation charity golf event earlier this month. However, one…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":869562,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[574],"tags":[64,63,726,85],"class_list":["post-869561","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-basketball","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-basketball","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/869561","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=869561"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/869561\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/869562"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=869561"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=869561"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=869561"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}