{"id":957094,"date":"2026-11-03T19:04:09","date_gmt":"2026-11-03T19:04:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/957094\/"},"modified":"2026-11-03T19:04:09","modified_gmt":"2026-11-03T19:04:09","slug":"saint-knick-former-stevenson-star-jalen-brunson-has-year-he-couldnt-have-imagined","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/957094\/","title":{"rendered":"Saint Knick: Former Stevenson star Jalen Brunson has year he couldn’t have imagined"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jalen Brunson could\u2019ve been a Bull.<\/p>\n

Not that he should\u2019ve been a Bull. The Mavericks drafted Brunson with the third pick of the second round in 2018. But the Bulls had two first-round picks that year, and they chose Wendell Carter Jr. at No. 7 and Chandler Hutchinson at No. 22.<\/p>\n

If they knew then what they know now \u2014 Brunson went 11 picks after Hutchinson, who played four nondescript NBA seasons \u2014 the Bulls might\u2019ve wanted Brunson around.<\/p>\n

And what fun that would\u2019ve been. At Stevenson High School, Brunson was the Sun-Times\u2019 Player of the Year in 2014 and \u201915. His father, Rick, played two seasons for the Bulls (2002-04) and was an assistant on coach Tom Thibodeau\u2019s staff in 2010-13.<\/p>\n

But the Mavs took Brunson, and in 2022, he signed with the Knicks, who, for those of a certain age, make him a sworn enemy of the Bulls.<\/p>\n

To dislike Brunson, though, is to dislike ice cream, puppies and rainbows. Even the Knicks as a team became likable last season on their way to the franchise\u2019s first NBA title since 1973. For Brunson\u2019s sake, it was best the Bulls didn\u2019t draft him, because he wasn\u2019t winning anything here.<\/p>\n

And he wouldn\u2019t have had the amazing six-month run he just had, either.<\/p>\n

Brunson led the Knicks to the title and earned Finals MVP honors in June, becoming a legend in a city that had yearned for basketball glory. In September, he hosted \u201cSaturday Night Live,\u201d joining Michael Jordan among the handful of NBA greats to do so.<\/p>\n

And on Thursday, he\u2019ll appear on NBC\u2019s \u201cLaw & Order: SVU\u201d as Detective Madison \u2014 get it? \u2014 with show mainstay and Knicks superfan Mariska Hargitay.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought I would be able to call myself a champion at some point in whatever role I was playing,\u201d Brunson said last week after the Knicks beat the Bulls at the United Center. \u201cBut to say that I thought I\u2019d have this type of year, I would be lying to you if I said I had a thought.\u201d<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t expect Brunson to give up dribbling for acting anytime soon, even though he doesn\u2019t quite fit the prototype for an NBA player \u2014 and that\u2019s coming from his coach.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou look at this guy, and he\u2019s not 6-7, he\u2019s not athletic, he\u2019s not quick,\u201d Mike Brown said. \u201cYou can go down the line in natural physical tools that a lot of guys have, but his determination, his competitive spirit, his will, his toughness, it makes him an unbelievable basketball player.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"BULLS-261029-63.jpg\"<\/p>\n

Knicks guard Jalen Brunson greets fans after the victory against the Bulls at the United Center.<\/p>\n

Anthony Vazquez\/Sun-Times<\/p>\n

For the record, Brunson is 6-2, but he plays bigger, as in clutchness. He has finished in the top five for Clutch Player of the Year \u2014 aka the Jerry West Trophy \u2014 in four consecutive years, winning in 2025.<\/p>\n

He did, however, seem to need some home cooking last week when he entered the game against the Bulls in a shooting slump. In the stadium that Jordan built and Brunson visited often as a kid, he found his touch, shooting 52% from the field and 60% from three-point range for a season-high 38 points. He\u2019ll face the Bulls again Wednesday at Madison Square Garden.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was just happy to be able to finally get over the hump,\u201d Brunson said. \u201cI felt like I was putting a lot of unnecessary commentary in my head. But seeing the ball going the way it did got me out of my mental state and put me back in a good state.\u201d<\/p>\n

Literally and figuratively. Brunson said he has many fond memories from the United Center. He watched the Bulls\u2019 Derrick Rose and the Heat\u2019s LeBron James battle in the 2011 Eastern Conference finals.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember exactly where we used to sit,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He met countless players, including the late Kobe Bryant.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was in that hallway,\u201d he said, nodding toward the area outside the visitors\u2019 locker room.<\/p>\n

He also met Rose, with whom Brunson reconnected after the game. After making a shot late in the game, Brunson appeared to point toward Rose. Later, he clarified that he was pointing at Rose\u2019s oldest son, PJ, who\u2019s 14.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s crazy to see how old he is now,\u201d Brunson said. \u201cThe relationship I have with [Rose] and his family, I feel like the feeling is mutual. I\u2019m just happy to have that guy as a mentor and personally I can talk to, and I just really look up to, as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rose was on his fourth team, the Timberwolves, when Brunson entered the league. So a Bulls backcourt of Brunson and Rose was never in the cards. But after seeing what Brunson has become with the Knicks \u2014 the Knicks! \u2014 it\u2019s hard not to be envious of what they have with one of our own.<\/p>\n

\u201cAn MVP-caliber basketball player,\u201d Brown said. \u201cI hope he gets recognition for that this year because his will is off the charts.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jalen Brunson could\u2019ve been a Bull. Not that he should\u2019ve been a Bull. The Mavericks drafted Brunson with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":957095,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[434],"tags":[49,48,459,82],"class_list":["post-957094","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/957094","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=957094"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/957094\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/957095"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=957094"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=957094"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=957094"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}