Advertisement - scroll for more content
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement - scroll for more content
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Q: What stands out to you about Karl-Anthony Towns’ on-court mentality? A: Pinpoint. Magic [Johnson] was always his idol. You could see out there he’s always navigating like a GPS system, he’s trying to make the right decision, right pass. I’m awed by some of the passes that he can get through to his players. Q: Jalen Brunson. A: Great player, great teammate. Call ’em Batman and Robin. I love the kid. The kid plays the game the way it’s supposed to be played. Plays hard, plays to win, he’s a great leader and a great person.
NBA Base: Josh Hart took a shot at Becky Hammon, who has yet to apologize for doubting the Knicks' championship leader 👀 “I'm not naming names, but I'm still waiting for somebody to say they was wrong about someone who led our team to a championship in 53 years. I'm still waiting for something. So you know, I know they have media availability, so we'll be waiting for that apology.” (Via @Roommates__Show)
Hart brought those comments back up during his appearance on the Roommates Show via ESPN. He is waiting for her to officially concede on that statement, patiently anticipating the apology. “I'm not naming names: I'm still waiting for somebody––,” Hart said before the crowd chanted Hammon's name. “…to say they was wrong about someone who led our team to a championship…I know they have media availability so we'll be waiting for that apology,” Hart finished.
Bernie Lee on Jalen Brunson’s paycut with Knicks: The idea that any player making a contractual sacrifice automatically leads to success does not align with what I have seen repeatedly. Once a player sacrifices money, he is handing a tool back to an organization to make decisions he does not control, while still carrying the results of those decisions. There is not an NBA player I have met who, while playing, has the perspective required to be a good general manager. Putting players in the position of making personnel decisions does not help anyone.
Bernie Lee: Jalen Brunson will be remembered for the rest of his natural life and beyond for taking an incredible risk and leading one of the marquee teams in the NBA to a championship. Over the years, I have had numerous clients with the opportunity to play with the Knicks. I have always said that a person can win anywhere, but winning in New York is entirely different. That has clearly proven to be true. It is an incredible story with a great ending, and every person involved deserves to enjoy it. But the idea that this should start a trend does not add up to me, because the circumstances that allowed it to work were finite and almost impossible to recreate. The family history between the Brunson family and Knicks management has been well documented for good reason, and it clearly played a major role in the trust that defined the relationship from the outset. Still, unless you own the team, everyone works for someone.
Advertisement
Bobby Marks: Speaking of paying, we're going to probably have an eye on Karl-Anthony Towns. He is extension eligible. Jay, how about this number? Four years, $272 million. That is what Towns is extension eligible for. He's got two years left. He's got a player option for that second year. They can negotiate right now and he can sign that on July 6th. That's the number to certainly keep an eye on. Remember Jalen Brunson had given back some money. Mikal Bridges, will there be a compromise with Towns? Josh Hart is also extension eligible. Also, McBride, but Towns is going to be the player to focus on when we're looking at that next big contract here.
The Knicks are the toast of the sports world, with numerous athletes expressing their respect, admiration, and gratitude to the team. Among them is NBA legend Shaquille O'Neal, who even created, along with rapper Cory Gunz, a two-minute music video using AI to celebrate New York's historic triumph. It also showed Knicks stars Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns and ESPN commentator Mike Breen. Was the singer supposed to be Alicia Keys?
Now that the Knicks are the NBA champions, Ben Stiller can confirm it — he is, in fact, making a documentary about the team. The Hollywood actor, producer and director ended all the speculation during an appearance on Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart’s “Roommates Show” on Wednesday. Stiller, an avid Knicks fan, said the “dream project” will be made with A24 for HBO and has the “full cooperation” of the NBA and MSG.
Advertisement
NBA Base: Jalen Brunson on why he went to hug Spurs HC Mitch Johnson before his father after the win: "I hugged and said what's up to Coach Johnson from the Spurs first, just to show respect… It was just kind of instinct, like how I was raised. I think win or loss, you show respect regardless of the outcome. I’ve got a lot of respect for them over there." (Via @CBSMornings)
Mark Cuban has admitted why the Mavericks completely whiffed on letting Jalen Brunson walk to the Knicks. “It was really, really simple. We didn’t see JB, as what he would become,” Cuban, the owner of the Mavericks from 2000 to 2023, said in a recent appearance on “House of Haymaker.” Brunson spent four years with the Mavericks, averaging more than 15 points per game only in his final year, the 2021-22 season.
![“He showed that star potential when Luka [Doncic] got …](https://sportsdata.usatoday.com/gcdn/content-pipeline-sports-images/sports2/nba/players/1121277.png?format=png8&auto=webp&quality=85,75&width=140)
As he was asked by Shaquille O'Neal in Inside the NBA if he thought he would be successful right now after playing with Doncic in the Dallas Mavericks, the newly-crowned NBA champion and Finals MVP can only be blunt about his response "I envisioned at some point I knew I was gonna win, that's just how my mindset it," he said. "I was gonna figure out what I had to do, what role I had to fill in order to win a championship. "Opportunity presented itself, and I didn't want for it to slip away."
