Jalen Brunson ready to help Knicks get past last season's struggles
Jalen Brunson of the Knicks answering questions moment from the media on media day at the Knicks training facility in Greenburgh on Monday, Sept. 26, 2022. Credit: Errol Anderson
It took just 17 seconds for Jalen Brunson to get into the lane, gently dropping a floater in for the Knicks first points of the preseason, a fitting beginning for the latest great hope for the franchise.
It may have just been a preseason game, but for Brunson this first appearance at Madison Square Garden in a Knicks uniform might seem like the fulfillment of a childhood dream. He's taking on the role he saw his father Rick in when Jalen was just a child. For Brunson though, the time is not now for those sorts of thoughts, instead he's focused on taking another step forward to help the Knicks shift the narrative from last season’s struggles.
“I think at some point I’ll look back on this first day of actually playing here,” Brunson said after the Knicks morning shootaround. “As of right. Now I’m just preparing myself to get ready to play. As much of a feel-good story of it is I’m not trying to have those moments now.”
The Knicks put this latest incarnation of the franchise on display against the Detroit Pistons in their preseason opener, winning easily, 117-96. And in a coincidental bit of timing the NBA released its annual general manager survey and, not surprisingly, the Knicks were not saddled with high expectations.
While Brunson was third among player acquisitions expected to have the greatest impact (yes, Donovan Mitchell to the Cavs was No. 1), the Knicks didn’t receive any votes among teams expected to contend for the title or most improved teams. Coming off a 37-45 season, the expectations aren’t great.
“I don’t think we have to lower our expectations,” said Brunson, who had 16 points on 7-for-9 shooting and five assists in 20 minutes and took three charges. “I think it starts with us in the locker room, how do we want to take that information? For most of us, we don’t really look at it and we don’t like to think about it. Deep down we know people are doubting us. How can we prove to ourselves we’re the type of team we want to be. So I mean, it is what it is. We can’t control that. We can only control the things that we can. So it’s whatever.”
“Man, I could be playing in a small gym somewhere, anywhere, I’d still have the same mindset,” added RJ Barrett, who led the Knicks with 21 points. “You always have something to prove every time you step on the floor, anytime you’re playing a game, anytime you’ve got practice. You’ve always got to just prove that the work you’re putting in is working, you’re getting better. Just always having that chip on your shoulder just helps you stay motivated. So definitely always got something to prove.”
Barrett has taken these slights and clung to them — still pointing out that he was left off the All-Rookie first and second team — and he wasn’t surprised that he got no attention individually either from the GM’s.
“Do they ever?” He said. "They didn’t [previously], I wasn’t on an All-Rookie team and look where I ended up. Where are some of those guys . . . Besides the fans, which we do have a lot of fans, everybody else really doesn’t like us . . . It’s weird. I’ve gotten respect, but at the same time, there’s also a lot of disrespect. But that’s fine. All the guys that they want to put in front of me or whatever, I’m in their heads, so it doesn’t really matter.”
Notes & quotes: Cam Reddish was the first wing off the bench with Quentin Grimes sidelined by a sore left foot. But in the second quarter Reddish suffered a sprained left ankle and sat out the second half after shooting 1-for-6 . . . Miles McBride had six steals in 23 minutes off the bench . . . Derrick Rose played just 5:31 in the first half and didn’t play again.
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.
