Knicks' Jalen Brunson defends father Rick's coaching credentials amid reported NBA investigation
Knicks assistant coach Rick Brunson speaks with his son, Jalen, during a game against the Cleveland Caverliers at Madison Square Garden on April 23, 2023. Credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams Jr.
PHOENIX — It’s hard to miss Knicks assistant coach Rick Brunson.
He’s on the court working hours before game time readying his son, Jalen Brunson, and the rest of the Knicks for the game. He’s hopping up from the bench during games to share his observations with coach Tom Thibodeau. And with nine years as a player in the NBA and in his 10th year as an assistant coach, he’s paid his dues.
SNY reported this week that the NBA had begun an investigation into his latest promotion and contract with the Knicks. The NBA would not comment on the situation or confirm there was an investigation, but a source confirmed the Knicks had been approached by the NBA, which led the Knicks to release a statement expressing their displeasure.
On Wednesday morning, Jalen Brunson defended his father's qualifications as a coach after the team’s shootaround at the Footprint Center but said he had not been approached by the league regarding the investigation.
“For a person who has been around the NBA for a long time, who has been around Thibs for longer than he’s been around the NBA, I think he understands the business,” Jalen Brunson said. “I think he understands the game, I think he understands the head coach. So he’s more than qualified. The way he’s taught me and raised me and how I’ve seen him impact others in all different levels of basketball — high school, college, pros. He’s more than qualified for that position.”
According to the statement from MSG Sports, the investigation centers around a promotion and raise the elder Brunson received this summer after Jalen signed a contract extension for four years and $156 million — far less than he could have received if he waited until next summer.
But the promotion for Rick Brunson came after the team parted ways with associate head coach Johnnie Bryant.
“In response to the rumored NBA investigation into Rick Brunson’s promotion,” MSG Sports said in a statement, “Brunson took Johnnie Bryant’s place and assumed the same salary as Bryant. It’s offensive that anyone would claim Rick didn’t deserve the promotion, Rick has done a tremendous job and will continue to do so. We see this as more harassment of the Knicks due to our opposition to certain NBA matters.”
After Jalen signed the contract this summer, even NBA commissioner Adam Silver praised the move.
“Compliments to the Knicks and Jalen for creating an environment that he wanted to be in,” Silver said just before the start of the season. “If he continues to play at the level he is, he’ll make an enormous amount of money, which is wonderful, but I think what he did with his contract is consistent with the way he leads on the floor.”
It’s not the first time that there have been accusations about Rick Brunson factoring in his son’s contractual decisions. Jalen Brunson spent the first four seasons of his career in Dallas, but when he approached free agency the Mavericks withheld an offer and never got a chance to sit down with Brunson when free agency began as he opted to join his father in New York. The Knicks added the elder Brunson to their coaching staff that summer in a similar role under Thibodeau that Brunson had served in Chicago and Minnesota. Mavericks owner Mark Cuban praised Jalen Brunson after he departed, but did say that he felt it got messy when parents got involved.
“I didn’t get involved. I’ve been involved,” Rick Brunson said last week while appearing on "The Roommates Show" hosted by Jalen and Josh Hart. “It’s my son. I’m a father first. I’m a coach. I understand the business. Mark, Rick Carlisle, Jason Kidd, I love them. They did great by him. It was a business decision on their part. We accepted that. The business decision was they wanted [Jalen] to go into free agency, which I would have done too to see if you were going to get the mid-level or the $55 [million], and they could match it or whatever.
“That’s a business decision. I knew that."
The teachings of the elder Brunson have been very public. There are videos of them working together when Jalen was a child and Rick was a journeyman player that have depicted the work they put in.
“For me, he helped me work on my game since I told him I wanted to become a professional basketball player,” Jalen Brunson said. “Whether I was [angry], happy, whatever, he always asked me before and after every workout, ‘Is this what you want to do for a living?’ And the answer was always yes. He pushes me every single day and he still does."
Notes & quotes: Mitchell Robinson accompanied the team on the trip and was on the floor at the morning shootaround, but he is still not practicing or running. “It’s going to be a long progression,” Thibodeau said. “So obviously he started but be patient, go step by step. He hasn’t been cleared for practice but he’s done some shooting and that sort of thing. Can do conditioning in the weight room. So he’s making good progress. Just have to be patient.” . . . Thibodeau said that Precious Achiuwa could be cleared for practice on the trip but will need to go through practices before playing.
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.
