NEW YORK — In the few minutes that Jalen Brunson isn’t on the court, the New York Knick guard is often staring at an iPad.
Maybe you’ve caught it briefly on television. Maybe you’ve caught it in person while inside Madison Square Garden. It’s unique, so it does stick out. Brunson spends his limited time on the bench studying what took place earlier.
He has a ritual: Brunson sits down, wipes the sweat off, gathers himself and then reaches behind him where an assistant coach is waiting to hand him his iPad.
Brunson stares intently for minutes. He’ll flip from one play to another. His finger drags forward on the screen to see something new or backward to see something for a second, third time.
By the time Brunson is ready to check back in, he tends to have a better understanding of how he can be better.
“It’s reminding myself of technique stuff, for me,” Brunson said. “Small things can make a big difference when it comes to shooting or reads. Just being able to see things and learn from them quickly.”
This is just another example of the seriousness with which Brunson approaches his job, and a reason why New York has returned to relevancy since Brunson joined the franchise in 2022. The behind-the-scenes work ethic has been documented, as has the way in which he takes care of his body. Brunson is a sucker for learning, a sucker for details. That’s why his footwork as an undersized guard is impeccable. That’s why his use of angles is second to none.
Off the court, Brunson even studied Derek Jeter when signing with New York to learn what it takes to handle all that comes with playing in the Big Apple.
The small things, in his mind, go a long way.
Brunson said he has used an iPad while on the bench since joining the Knicks. He struggled to remember whether he used it as a member of the Dallas Mavericks, but he believes that he did sporadically. As coaching staffs started to use more advanced technology on the sideline, Brunson decided to take advantage of it, too, to boost his play in the moment. It’s become as much a part of his game-day routine as the half-court shot he takes in layup lines or the prayer he does under the basket just before tip-off.
Brunson and the assistant coaches tasked with handing him the iPad have it down to a science. Brunson wouldn’t give away too many secrets, but certain plays and situations are automatically clipped and ready for him to review. Then the coaches will add anything that they feel he would want or need to see.
The guard’s ability to study and better understand his opponents throughout the course of a game or series was never more obvious than in the Knicks’ first-round win against the Hawks. Atlanta has big, strong and intelligent defenders, such as Dyson Daniels, that it threw at Brunson to try and slow him. At times it worked, but only for so long. Brunson struggled with shooting efficiency and/or turnovers through most of the first three games of the series. By the final two games, Brunson had Atlanta’s defense figured out. He was getting to his spots and making shots with the regularity that we’re used to seeing. He wasn’t turning the ball over. Every pass was on time and on target.
Brunson even adjusted his style of play in the middle of the series, setting more screens in the final two games than he did during any regular-season game this season.
Being able to successfully toggle between a star with the basketball in his hands to setting screens to free up his teammates and operating more as an off-ball weapon is largely rooted in his film study and preparation.
Again, the little things.
“We had done it before,” Brunson said of his role as an off-ball weapon late in the series against Atlanta. “The frequency we were doing it, obviously, it was asked to do more of. Knowing if I get a good hit on somebody’s defender, it puts my defender in the position to switch. They were trying to keep bodies on bodies and not switch off me, and a good screen puts them in position to have to make a decision.”
Brunson’s understanding of the game is a big reason why, despite his size, he’s been able to be one of the sport’s most elite players. All the things that people don’t see — the film study, in particular — is what helps him look like a giant when his stature says otherwise.
Just know that when you see Brunson with an iPad on the bench, he’s not watching Roman Reigns’ greatest matches — or so he says. He’s trying to get better.