Like many things in life, perspective makes certain decisions incomprehensible. Given his career and his last games, now that he is debuting at an absolute level with the Team USA, hard to understand how Jalen Brunson was only number 33 of the 2018 Draft. The base of 26 yearsBorn in New Brunswick, New Jersey, he has been a basketball fan since he was born, and his progression places him at this point in time as a natural leader and star of the national team. USA who faces a new assault on the World Cup.
The player of the New York Knicks, where in his first season he has also established himself as a benchmark, he has shown in his time in Spain that his basketball ceiling is still far beyond. At the centenary tournament of the Spanish Basketball Federation (FEB) held in Malaga, Brunson has captained the young American group to two victories of merit and prestige against Slovenia and the national team. In the first contact with Martín Carpena he demonstrated his versatility, and on Sunday he gave free rein to his ability to solve games and score. 21 points without failure in field goals (7-7 TC; 2-2 3P), 3 rebounds and 5 assists earned him to establish himself as MVP of the game and get a 25 rating in 25 minutes on the track.
“This is basketball, the game that I love and for which I work every day,” he commented in the mixed zone after his recital on the shores of the Mediterranean. “For me, in basketball there is no pressure. It is a privilege to play, and there are moments, when all the meat is on the grill, in which I try to give my best”, he added. Brunson has never been burned by the ball, and already in high school he attested to it when broke his school’s scoring record by plugging 57 points in a win after two overtimes.
A system worker away from big egos
Son of Rick Brunson, a former player with nine years of experience in the NBA and a subsequent career on the benches and offices of the league -now, the father also works for the Knicks-, the boy was always modest and restrained despite his abilities. “I don’t know how to explain it. My personality is very different if you compare it with other high profile players. I try to be one more, live a normal life and get away from egos”he told the Chicago Tribune after his high school exhibition.
His good role in the collegiate stage earned him a good opportunity with a unique program in the villanova university. The decision was correct and far from the contemporary convention for the great basketball talents in the United States. Rather than train for another year and make the leap to the NBA, Brunson waited and spent three years in college, where won two titles and became a legend of the Wildcats, who this year withdrew his number 1.
“I try to be one more, live a normal life and get away from egos”
Jalen BrunsonPlayer for the Knicks and Team USA
Although he amply demonstrated his ability to score and pull the car by himself, Brunson knew how to adapt to the system proposed by Jay Wright in Villanova to succeed. Instead of showing off as a little star, she learned to share the ball and not go beyond the script requirements in a team full of talent. She averaged 9.6 points her freshman year and lifted her first title in the NCAA. In the third, the roles changed and his coach asked him for more leadership.
“He knew perfectly well when we needed him to take control. That was the beauty and the crowning glory of his career,” Wright recalled to The Sporting News. Brunson’s reply came with 18.9 points and 4.6 assists average to win his second title before appearing in the Draft as the best college player of the season.
The great success and subsequent failure of the Mavs
Something went wrong in the recruiting process for the NBA, which neither invited him to the Draft Combine nor valued him as it should despite the many franchises in need to have value like him. he looked too short (1.88 meters) and light (86 kilos) to withstand the physical demands of the American league, and also his ability to shape his game to the needs of the team was not valued.
Dallas then found himself with a piece of candy in the draft position 33 and he amazingly let it get away last summer, when the Knicks stormed in and offered him a contract. $104 million in exchange for four years. Given the current salary boom, it’s another bargain that’s hard to explain. “A lot. He is a magnificent player and guy”said Luka Doncic when asked if the Mavs missed him in April.
With the Mavericks, Brunson took advantage of his ability to mold himself to others to make friends and complement himself with a star of the caliber of Doncic. In four seasons, the base grew and went from 9.3 average points to 16.3, also raising his game distribution going from 3.2 assists to 4.8 in his last year in Texas. undisputed ownerone of the most valued teammates for the Slovenian magician, surprised when the Mavs did not want to give him more money after betting on him in the Draft.
“People might not believe me. I’ve talked about it with my dad since freshman or sophomore year in Dallas. I said ‘yes, I think we’ll be here until the end of my career’. That’s what I thought,” Brunson acknowledged on JJ Redick’s podcast The Old Man and The Three. The player had asked for a four-year, $56 million renewal at the beginning of the 2021-2022 season that was denied until Two occasions. “It’s up to you. I don’t blame you for making a business decisionthey had every right to do it,” he said of Dallas’ rejection in an interview with Bleacher Report.
This last season, in New York, without the ties of being Doncic’s number two in Dallas and returning to the natural base position after his first steps as a guard, Brunson has exploded and signed the best numbers of his career with 24 points and 6.2 assists per match in 35 minutes of play.
Malaga’s confirmation
Brunson has been carefree and smiling in his concentration days in Malaga. He has celebrated his reunion (although not on the track) with his friend Doncic – “I have nothing but love for him” – and has fitted in low profile, as always, his selection as “natural leader” of Team USA by Steve Kerr. “He’s an easy guy to get to know, and because he’s the leader, it’s important for me to connect with him.because this is about collaborating”, said the coach about his pupil and director of play these days.
Jalen Brunson tries to overcome Juan Nuñez in the Spain-USA
Jorge Zapata / EFE
The Warriors coach and coach of the US national team has done his homework. He Team USA has been testing all facets of Brunson these days. He has made him play with the ball in his hands like in New York, but he has also proposed to recover the dynamics of Dallas by putting him back as ‘2’ next to Tyrese Haliburton, a top dealer. In both facets it has worked and in each game he has left details for all tastes.
Against Puerto Rico, still in Las Vegas, Nevada, he added 11 points and 12 rebounds, then against Slovenia, without being able to measure himself against his great colleague, signed 11 points, 4 rebounds and 8 assists. Already against Spain, with a recital in the first half, he made it clear on the court that the role of leader and star is not great for him. In the United States they already know who to hug in search of the gold medal.
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2023-08-14 16:14:09
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