Jalen Brunson's quiet leadership has brought calmness — and wins — to the Knicks

Before he came to the Knicks, arriving as if a Tom Thibodeau practice session speech had been conjured into life, Jalen Brunson once was a player trying to prove himself as a second-round pick with the Dallas Mavericks.

But even then, on a team loaded with veterans and a superstar in Luka Doncic, it was Brunson who became the team captain. It’s a role he filled at Villanova as he led the Wildcats to a pair of national championships, and in high school in Illinois, where he was a state champion.

There is no Knicks captain right now, with Thibodeau insisting he wants a team of leaders. But on a team that struggled through decades of dysfunction, there now is a calmness over Madison Square Garden, with the team competitive and playing with the fire the coach demands.

It can be attributed to the guidance of Thibodeau, the patience of the front office in letting this team develop rather than clearing out the roster for a star chase, and the play of Julius Randle, who has become a two-time All-NBA player here.

Although those pieces already were in place, there still were the usual rumblings. When Brunson arrived last season, however, the Garden suddenly became a destination for players on other teams. The Knicks reached the Eastern Conference semifinals, and it was Brunson who starred on the court and set a tone off it.

“He’s the same Jalen,” said Donte DiVincenzo, who signed on as a free agent this summer and reunited with Brunson, his college roommate. “And I really mean that; he’s the same Jalen. First and foremost, it’s a credit to him, but also a credit to [Brunson’s parents] Miss Sandra and Mr. Rick. They’ve done a great job with him.

“He’s him. He knows himself. He knows when to speak, when not to speak. He just has a great feel for that. The thing that’s underrated about him: Off the court, he does a really, really good job of making sure everybody feels like they’re the superstar of the team. But he’s been doing that since we got into college.”

It is that combination of quiet leadership, mostly by example in practice and in games, and humility that allows Brunson to lead without stepping on toes or nudging egos.

His arrival in New York as a free agent in the summer of 2022 came on a trail paved by relationships. Knicks president Leon Rose jokes that he held Jalen before his father did. Thibodeau was a Knicks assistant coach when Jalen would play in the gym at practice. Rick Brunson, after his NBA playing career, was an assistant coach under Thibodeau in multiple stops and now in New York.

But before any claims of nepotism or of the team uniting a Villanova community around Jalen Brunson in New York, be assured that his humility is ground in by more barbs from old friends than fawning comments.

When the comment about “making sure everybody feels like they’re the superstar of the team” was relayed to Josh Hart, he laughed and said, “[He] ain’t never made me feel like that. I don’t know who the hell said that” before adding that Brunson “is good in terms of bringing good chemistry, camaraderie, good vibes. I think that’s the big thing and people gravitate toward that.”

Even in his 10th season, Randle seems different now, as if Brunson’s tone is rubbing off on him. What is certain is that Brunson lifted some of the burden off Randle’s broad shoulders on and off the court — giving him a teammate who can absorb the lead role in the locker room and complement him on the court.

“I think the best leadership you have, it’s really the things that you do,” Thibodeau said. “It’s not the things you say. And so we want to have a team of leaders and it’s not just Jalen, I want Julius, I want RJ [Barrett] I want Josh. I want them all to lead.

“And so do the right things each and every day. Not everyone’s going to have a great day every day. So when they don’t, someone’s got to help pick them up, pick [up] the team. Be mentally tough when we face adversity. Be able to get through things. Find different ways to win. But that’s the bottom line, and to understand we can’t do it individually. We have to figure this out together.”

Perhaps most important, Brunson’s arrival turned the Knicks’ fortunes, changing the perception of the franchise, and in that, it’s individual pieces, too. He has been on top at every level except the NBA, and his determination to do that now, in New York, is what drives him.

The Knicks won a playoff series for the first time in 10 seasons in Brunson’s first year in New York, and even with bumps and bruises slowing them, they nearly got past Miami in the conference semifinals.

Jalen Brunson's stats with the Knicks

Games: 68

Points per game: 24

Assists per game: 6.2

Rebounds per game: 3.5

Field goal percentage: 49.1

Three-point percentage: 41.6

Free-throw percentage: 82.9

In his home, Brunson keeps no trophies — not the Naismith Award he won as the best player in college basketball, not the championship rings or banners. The only hint he has achieved anything is his jersey and NBA jerseys of former Villanova teammates.

“I want to win a championship at some point in my career,” Brunson said. “I want to keep building toward that. It’s all about taking steps to get there. So that’s why I stay motivated. Just going back to previous accomplishments, I did that in high school, I did it in college, but then I was still hungry to do it again. It’s all about what can you do.

“Everyone’s asked me throughout my career, high school, college, I’ve done a lot of great things. I don’t have any championship rings from college at my place. I don’t have my state rings. I don’t have anything, the national player of the year. All that stuff. That’s at my parents’ house because I don’t want to reflect on that, I don’t want to look at that stuff every day, because it’s not going to help me going forward.

“Going forward, I’ve got to focus on how can I be better the next day because no matter what I did, I’ve always had that mindset. I’ve never said that out loud, it’s kind of crazy, but that’s just how I’ve been. I don’t want to be satisfied. I don’t want to be in a position where I’m comfortable, because that’s when I’m relaxed.”

By Steve Popper

steve.popper@newsday.com@StevePopper

Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.