Jalen Brunson was there the last time the New York Knicks were in the NBA Finals originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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Jalen Brunson hasn’t played in the NBA Finals before.
He was there the last time the New York Knicks were in the Finals, though — sort of.
The Knicks last played in the NBA Finals in 1999.
That roster included Rick Brunson, who is now a Knicks assistant coach but more notably is Jalen’s father.
Jalen was 2 years old at the time, able to be a part of the festivities as a little guy a long way away from the NBA, according to the Wall Street Journal.
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Rick was far from the player that Jalen is. In that 1998-99 season, he played just 5.6 minutes per game for the Knicks, and he appeared in nine postseason games with an average of just 2.0 minutes per outing.
He became a coach early, teaching Jalen the game of basketball so that the undersized, not overly athletic point guard could become one of the best players on the planet.
In many ways, Jalen plays more like a coach’s son than an NBA player’s son, although in this case, he is both.
He has impeccable footwork, a countermove for every defensive maneuver, and pretty much unlimited basketball IQ out on the court.
Jalen also has a clutch gene unmatched by almost anyone in the modern NBA.
The lefty star probably would’ve grown into the same player even if he wasn’t a 2-year old youngster hanging around the last time the Knicks were in the Finals. But it can’t have hurt, and it creates some full-circle moments here for the Brunson family.
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