What makes Knicks star Jalen Brunson so special? ‘The magic is in the work.’

This season has been another giant leap for Brunson, the crafty-yet-undersized point guard who spent much of his childhood living in Cherry Hill before becoming a star at Villanova and in the NBA.

Jalen Brunson is a crafty-yet-undersized point guard who spent much of his childhood living in Cherry Hill before becoming a star at Villanova and in the NBA for the Knicks this season.Read moreAnton Klusener/ Staff illustration/ AP Photos

by Gina Mizell

Published Apr. 19, 2024, 5:00 a.m. ET

NEW YORK — Jalen Brunson secured a bounce pass delivered between two Sacramento Kings defenders, then elevated in the lane to drop in the go-ahead, off-balance shot through contact. As the whistle blew and the Knicks’ home crowd erupted, Brunson skipped over to the corner of the court, hollering and pumping his arms.

Those moments — and the fervent reaction — are why Brunson’s mother, Sandra, says walking into Madison Square Garden remains “surreal.”

Before that April 4 win, calls of “Brunson! Brunson! Brunson!” rang through the arena as he finished his warm-up.

During the game, comedian John Oliver was video-bombed by three kids wearing No. 11 jerseys. Spike Lee, wearing a puffy jacket featuring the point guard’s name and number on the back, clapped above his head as part of a standing ovation as Brunson checked out.

And during his postgame news conference, Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau called Brunson’s performance “brilliant,” not just because of his 35 points but how his passing out of aggressive double-teams yielded 11 assists.

This season has been another giant leap for Brunson, the crafty-yet-undersized point guard who spent much of his childhood living in Cherry Hill before playing at Villanova, where he became a two-time college basketball national champion and Player of the Year.

The 27-year-old has been one of the NBA’s premier success stories, as a first-time All-Star, likely All-NBA selection, and legitimate MVP candidate in his sixth season.

Brunson averaged 28.7 points and 6.7 assists as he led the Knicks’ rejuvenation following years of dysfunction. The storied franchise captured 50 wins for the first time since 2012-13 and landed the Eastern Conference’s No. 2 seed despite missing All-Star big man Julius Randle for a chunk of the season.

Up next is a first-round playoff series, starting Saturday, against his pseudo-hometown 76ers, an opponent the Knicks have dominated during the regular season.

Brunson’s NBA ascension from second-round draft pick, to Luka Dončić’s sidekick in Dallas, to starring inside the Mecca might seem improbable. Yet that stoic on-court demeanor, that uncanny leadership, that healthy chip stems from his father, Rick, an NBA journeyman and Knicks assistant coach who put a young Jalen through now-viral workouts, and his mother, the steadfast rock of the family.

He sharpened his “stone-cold killer” mentality, as former Villanova assistant George Halcovage describes, as a three-year college player, filling multiple roles alongside multiple NBA players — including two who are now Knicks teammates in Josh Hart and Donte DiVincenzo.

Now, Sandra Brunson, a Long Island native, says her son’s “lunch-pail” style is perfect for New York. Jalen Brunson’s high school coach, Pat Ambrose, compares his steady, unwavering rise to an escalator. And Rick offers no secret to the winner Jalen has become, insisting “the magic is in the work.”

“I didn’t go like this and, poof,” Rick said, mimicking sprinkling fairy dust over a reporter’s head while sitting courtside at the Garden last month. “He just worked. And worked. And worked. And worked.”

Sandra was worried that Jalen would wake up the neighbors if he continued to dribble the basketball at 5:30 a.m., their Cherry Hill backyard court artificially illuminated before the sun rose.

Naturally, that was a sly “if I had one of those …” suggestions from Rick. He had been coached by the legendary John Chaney at Temple and by Jeff Van Gundy and Thibodeau in the pros. And he would train Jalen just as relentlessly.

Rick would run five miles each day, with Jalen riding his bike alongside his dad. As Jalen approached his teenage years, a typical Saturday would feature him and his parents, plus younger sister Erica, at the local high school in Charlottesville, Va.

That is the site of the now-public workout video, where Rick says “tired is for the weak” as a sweaty and heavy-breathing Jalen shoots, dribbles through the legs, and jogs back to halfcourt to retrieve the ball.

Sometimes those workouts took place inside the University of Virginia’s pristine facility, where Rick was then the manager of basketball operations. But doing them in the sweltering heat built mental toughness, Rick believed, while Sandra recorded video footage they could study together later.

“Rick used to say, ‘I know how this works. And if I can’t break him, no coach will ever break him,’” Sandra recalled.

Though Jalen spent his early years roaming NBA locker rooms, he also experienced the ripple effects of the less-glamorous reality of his dad fighting every season for a contract, or serving on various college and professional coaching staffs.

The family moved seven times, teaching Jalen to regularly adapt to new teammates and coaches. Eventually, Sandra vowed to “remove myself and our children just from the trenches of it all” and strive for normalcy and “kid goals.”

“After a couple of years,” Sandra said. “It’s like, ‘OK, I can’t let this consume us. This is just too much.’”

They eventually settled in the Chicago suburbs when Rick was hired by the Bulls, then coached by Thibodeau, and agreed that Jalen would stay there through high school. They chose Stevenson High — a strong academic public school that was not exactly a basketball power — and trusted that college recruiters would find him.

Ambrose immediately noticed Brunson’s high basketball IQ and unflinching pace, which assured that he would not get flustered or frantic while matching up against older players.

Some days, Ambrose would leave the gym and Rick and Jalen would be going through extra shooting drills. Other days, Jalen would arrive “all lathered up” in sweat, because he had already completed a morning workout.

Rick would rope other teammates in, though Ambrose acknowledged “most of them couldn’t handle what Jalen could handle, the hardcore workouts and all the criticism.”

Then came the escalator ride. When Brunson was a sophomore, Stevenson lost in the Illinois state championship game to Simeon Career Academy and Jabari Parker, the future college All-American and top-5 NBA draft pick. As a junior, Brunson dropped 56 points in an epic semifinal loss to Whitney Young, anchored by Jahlil Okafor, the future Sixers’ third overall draft pick. As a senior, Brunson blossomed into the state’s Gatorade Player of the Year, Mr. Basketball, and a McDonald’s All-American — and finally capped it with a state title.

That summer, he was named the Most Valuable Player of the U19 World Championships, after propelling Team USA to the gold medal over Croatia. One of his teammates was Jayson Tatum, now of the Boston Celtics.

“Two plus two should equal four,” Ambrose said. “But in the case of Jalen, two plus two equals 400 or 4,000. He’s a one-in-a-million player — or one-in-a-billion player — in that regard. Because he’s not blessed with unbelievable height or unbelievable athletic ability. … He’s a savant.”

And on his recruiting visit to Villanova and coach Jay Wright, Jalen and Rick asked to use the gym for workouts.

“Just to see that effort,” Halcovage said. " … It’s like wow, this kid’s built different. He still lives that way today, I know.”

Jalen’s first meeting with Wright was actually in a baby stroller: Then the head coach at Hofstra, Wright opened his gym to Rick for workouts when their family was based in Long Island.

So Jalen considering Villanova was a full-circle moment. Sandra joked that Jalen’s college destination needed to be one plane flight away. He still felt a connection to the East Coast, and not just because of his Eagles fandom that held through every move.

But Rick and Sandra wanted Jalen to forge his own path, not fall into assumptions that he would go to Temple because his parents went there. (Sandra played volleyball for the Owls.) Jalen chose Villanova — the program with familiarity, with pedigree, and with history developing point guards.

Rick described Jalen’s trajectory at Villanova as role player, to Robin, to Batman — perhaps foreshadowing how his NBA career would unfold.

He learned how to play off the ball and shoot off the catch while playing behind program legend Ryan Arcidiacono and alongside future pros such as Hart, DiVincenzo, and Mikal Bridges. He improved as an on-ball defender. He used his footwork to post up, complementing his dangerous downhill scoring after he returned to lead guard.

As Jalen received Player of the Year buzz in 2017-18, Sandra recalled how Wright helped him remember that individual recognition would stem from team success. Halcovage vividly remembers Jalen oozing confidence during a timeout after falling behind to a rugged West Virginia team in the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16, before sparking the Wildcats’ comeback victory, finishing with 27 points against one of the nation’s best defensive teams.

He averaged 18.9 points, on 52.1% shooting, and 4.6 assists that final season — and became the Big East Scholar-Athlete of the Year while graduating in three years — creating a healthy, program-wide pressure that Halcovage called “the standard of Jalen Brunson.”

“The best way to have a great team is to have a great player that embodies everything you want your program to be,” Halcovage said. “Because then that guy is holding everybody else accountable, just by what he does.”

When NBA scouts called as part of their pre-draft evaluation of Brunson, Halcovage warned, “Yo, don’t miss on this kid.” The Dallas Mavericks selected him in the second round, behind such point guards as Dončić Trae Young, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander … and Collin Sexton, Aaron Holliday, and Elie Okobo.

“They didn’t think you belonged here,” Sandra told Jalen. “Don’t just stop working because you got drafted. Now, everybody’s at zero.”

Jalen’s rookie season coincided with sister Erica graduating high school, allowing Sandra and Rick to switch off visiting Dallas every couple of weeks. They provided Jalen with a dash of familiarity in new surroundings, and helped around the house while he navigated NBA life for the first time.

“Just focus on basketball,” Mom said.

The immense hubbub surrounding Dončić meant that Brunson could develop under the radar. After finishing fourth in NBA Sixth Man of the Year voting in 2020-21, his true breakout came in the 2022 playoffs. He scored 41 and 31 points in consecutive games while Dončić was out with an injury, helping launch the Mavericks’ surprising run to the Western Conference finals.

During that series against the Golden State Warriors, then-assistant coach Mike Brown said that Brunson had become such a priority that they turned to megastar Draymond Green to guard him.

“His medium game is just off the charts,” said Brown, who is now the Kings’ head coach. “[His] strength and his quickness is just getting better, and better, and better as he gets older. … He was a handful” in those playoffs.

Yet contract extension talks with Dallas stalled, sending him into 2022 free agency. When the Knicks offered a lucrative deal, Sandra urged Jalen to “go with your gut.” (New York would forfeit a second-round draft pick after an NBA investigation determined that the team violated tampering rules by courting Brunson before the negotiating period opened).

“This team is taking a chance on you,” Sandra told her son. " … Here someone is saying, ‘We want you. You’re not an afterthought.’”

In two seasons with the Knicks, Brunson continues to manipulate and weave through defenses, freeing himself for shots in the lane and tough finishes at the rim. He remains a master at utilizing ball screens and is a 40% three-point shooter. He now can sling a variety of passes when he is blitzed and trapped by multiple defenders. And his confidence is brewing.

Rick credits Randle, who has been out since late January with a shoulder injury, and Thibodeau with letting Jalen lead this group — part of his father’s belief that, “the longer Jalen’s with you on your team … you fall in love with him.”

Center Isaiah Hartenstein added that Brunson presence is “the biggest thing that kind of kept us all together” during a season that could have been derailed by multiple health woes.

Brunson’s next step, Hart half-joked, “telling Thibs to shut up, and he’ll call a little bit more of the plays.”

“I think he’s too nice of a guy to do that,” Hart added. “Maybe I’ll have to tell Thibs to shut up.”

That banter between longtime teammates spawned the Roommates Show podcast, an outlet for Brunson to flash the off-court personality he rarely lets outsiders see. Sandra describes it as quick wit, while Rick calls him a “clown.”

Ambrose, who has retired as Stevenson High’s coach, was reminded of that down-to-Earth nature at Jalen’s wedding to his high school sweetheart, Ali, last summer, where his two best men were Stevenson teammates and Arcidiacono was the officiant.

When Halcovage thinks back on Brunson’s Villanova tenure, he says, “I don’t think there’s a day that went by that anybody was like, ‘Man I don’t love that dude.’”

Rick still picks his spots to demand more from his son. Like during a game at Dallas earlier this season, when Jalen was understandably amped to play his former team and consistently argued with officials while the Knicks fell into a 20-point hole. When Jalen did not let up while walking to the locker room at halftime, Rick shot him a profanity-laced verbal barb. The Knicks regrouped, and staged a dramatic rally before losing by four.

“There’s rare moments, maybe once or twice a season,” Rick said. “But he’s a special son because he allows me to be me. On the court, I’m going to coach. Once we get off this, I’m his father. …

“It’s just a beautiful thing. For me to come here every single day [and] look at your son, you can’t beat that. I don’t have a bad day. I smile every day. There’s nothing to be sad about.”

Jalen and his mom text each other within two hours of every game, a tradition they began in high school. Sandra aims to re-ground her son, with messages to not believe his own hype and remain focused on the main goal.

Sometimes Sandra will leave the arena bowl to pace, to calm her nerves. So amid the noise and chaos of the Feb. 1 postgame scene — the night Brunson had been named a first-time All-Star — she did not realize until watching television later that night that tears had visibly flooded Jalen’s eyes when asked about that honor.

“I was just like, ‘Oh my goodness,’” she said. " … To see that he just allowed just a little emotion to come through, for people to see that he truly appreciated it, was very touching.”

Sandra calls that her favorite moment in a season already full of them — such as that comeback win over Sacramento earlier this month. Brunson tried to sneak out of the postgame locker room during Hart’s group media session, before his teammate chided him with, “You’re All-NBA, bro. They’re not going to not talk to you.”

From there, Brunson recapped a day that began with the unfortunate news that Randle would be out for the season, yet ended with that celebration in the corner of the Garden.

“This fan base has been spectacular,” he said. “To call this place home and to feed off their energy is special.”

Including that performance, Brunson scored at least 35 points in six of the Knicks’ final seven games — and reached 40 points three times..

Up next is a first-round playoff series that will take the Knicks and Sixers up and down I-95. Philly is a special place for Brunson to play because of his roots in the area. It’s also where Rick was cut for the final time, by the 76ers, helping fuel the way he trained his son.

When the Knicks were last at the Wells Fargo Center, in February, Jalen received “M-V-P!” chants in the building where the award’s reigning winner plays his home games.

While Brunson’s explosion has proven the magic is in the work, it is far from finished.

“I just say, ‘Wow, it was worth it,’ ” Rick said. “Then, me being who I am, you raise the bar. It never stops.”