In Jalen Brunson, Knicks have a true leader
Knicks guard Jalen Brunson (11) in the first quarter during Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Semifinal Playoffs at Madison Square Garden on May 10, 2023 in Manhattan. Credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams Jr.
The situation was eerily familiar.
The Miami Heat had just knocked off a higher-seeded opponent, eliminating the Knicks Friday night just two weeks after eliminating top-seeded Milwaukee. Jalen Brunson, the most important player on the Knicks, was still trying to come to terms with the end of his season when a reporter asked him if he considered the Knicks season a failure.
The answer Brunson gave won’t go viral like the “There’s no failure in sports” speech Giannis Antetokounmpo gave after the Bucks’ loss. It won’t be posted in Facebook parenting groups, talked about on the "Today Show" or spawn multiple segments on National Public Radio.
Yet, maybe it should.
Brunson, emotionally raw from having his season end, was able to give the kind of answer that shows how sports — one of the few areas in life where there is a clear-cut winner and loser — are different from other professions and endeavors.
“It depends on how you view it,” Brunson said when asked if he considered the season a failure. “For me, we did a lot of great things this season. We obviously wanted to keep playing, to have the opportunity. It stings a bit, definitely a learning experience. But, if you don’t win, you lose.”
If you don’t win, you lose.
While it’s not the advice you want to give your kids before they play their first soccer game, it’s exactly the kind of truth you want to hear from a professional athlete leading your team.
Knicks fans have a lot to look forward to with Brunson as their leader. It’s hard to imagine any athlete doing more than Brunson did in the Knicks’ final two games of the season. Two days after extending the Knicks’ season by scoring 38 points and playing every minute, Brunson nearly pushed them to a Game 7 by scoring 41 points in 45 minutes.
The performance ended painfully when Brunson turned the ball over on a late possession when the Knicks were trying to tie the game. But that isn’t the reason they lost. The Knicks lost because Brunson made 14 field goals while the rest of his teammates combined for just 13. The Knicks lost because RJ Barrett was 1-for-10 and Julius Randle was 3-for-14.
“How is that dude not on an All-Star team?” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said shaking his head in disbelief. “He should be on one of those teams. I wish he were still out West. Man, you have to respect him as a competitor.”
A competitor and a leader, both on and off the floor, as demonstrated by the first thing he said in the news conference. Brunson didn’t call out his teammates for having terrible nights. Instead, he took the blame for the failure, practically apologizing for his late turnover after playing the game of his life.
It’s on me. I have to play better. How many times have we heard Brunson say this after the Knicks lost an important game? He said it after a Game 1 loss at Madison Square Garden. And he said it multiple times during the season. This is a guy who clearly wants to win and who’s not afraid to take ownership when the team fails.
In that way, Giannis was wrong. In the NBA, not everybody gets a trophy for participating. His Milwaukee team, which had the best record in the NBA in the regular season and was favored by many to win another title, was knocked out of the playoffs by the No. 8 seed. The Bucks management saw that as enough of a failure that they fired head coach Mike Budenholzer.
One of the definitions of failure is setting a goal but not achieving it. Brunson has set big goals for his career and he’s not afraid to say he came up short. Brunson realizes that failure is a part of sports, just as it’s a part of life. Most teams end up failing to achieve their goal. The key is what you do with that failure.
The bet here is the Brunson embraces it, that he resets and uses it as a motivational tool to get to where he wants with this team. The Knicks made tremendous strides this season, but ultimately fell short. Now, it’s time for them to embrace failure, figure out why it happened and make the kind of fixes needed so that the team can advance deeper in the playoffs.
If you don’t win, you lose.
No, it’s not a feel-good statement. But it’s exactly what Knicks fans should want to hear from their leader.
Barbara Barker is an award-winning columnist and features writer in the sports department at Newsday. She has covered sports in New York for more than 20 years.
