Jalen’s journey from disrespect in Dallas to New York royalty.
Envision this as a movie scene: New York Knicks team president Leon Rose, softly lit in the smoky darkness of his office, slides a blank paper across his desk. Clad in a suit and a penciled-in mustache, Rose bears a passing resemblance to Vito Corleone of The Godfather. In fact, he is an actual godfather. His godson is the young man sitting opposite the table.
Don Leon whispers hoarsely, “Write the names. I’ll get them all for you.”
With a curl of a smile, Jalen Brunson taps the tip of his ballpoint against his tongue and proceeds to scribble out the name of every player on his championship teams at Villanova.
Who wouldn’t want such a generous godfather?
Now, if we were casting a movie villain, we could do worse than picking Mark Cuban, who made news last week by apologizing to Jalen Brunson. The former majority (now minority) owner of the Dallas Mavericks appeared on the recent The Roommates Show podcast.
Their history is this: the Mavericks drafted Brunson 33rd in the 2018 Draft, but later botched the opportunity to keep him due to several missteps surrounding his free agency. Initially, Jalen was willing to accept a four-year, $55 million extension from the Mavericks, but the team delayed, staying open to explore other options at the trade deadline. Their logic went that if they needed an in-season trade for a star to pair with Luka Doncic, a rising young point guard like Jalen could solidify the deal.
As Brunson told Bleacher Report in 2023:
“There were two times that I thought we had offers on the table before the season, and then around, I think December or January, they looked the other way. […] They had every right in the world to do so. I don’t blame them for making any business decisions. That’s on them.”
Dallas’ folly was New York’s triumph. Jalen signed with the Knicks on June 30, 2022, agreeing to a four-year contract worth $104 million. Critics called the deal an overpay. They were dumb, as proved by his performance in New York.
After Jalen left the Mavs to join the Knicks, Cuban must have felt a tad embarrassed. About Dallas’ failed negotiations, Cuban told ESPN’s Tim McMahon at the time, “Where it went south was when Rick [Brunson] took over, when the parent took over, or parents took over.”
What Cuban meant is that the involvement of parents made negotiations—and manipulations—more difficult. With too many people looking out for the player’s best interests, Jalen couldn’t be so easily swindled!
After losing Jalen, Mark was in a tizzy about potential tampering, so the league took a look. Following an investigation by the NBA, the Knicks were found guilty of violating league rules regarding the timing of free agency discussions, resulting in a penalty that included the loss of a future second-round draft pick. Back in his Godfather office, Leon shrugged.
The thing is, Brunson wanted to stay in Texas. Jalen told Bleacher Report, “I wanted that role of being with the Mavericks for the long haul of my career. I truly loved that place.” How fubar was the situation for the Mavs to lose a talented player who didn’t want to leave? After being jerked around for months, Jalen (who is the definition of loyal) accepted a superior offer in NYC.
Contrast Cuban’s handling of Brunson with the actions of Leon Rose. From the get-go, Jalen has been treated to the red carpet. Then, on February 8, 2023, Rose traded for Josh Hart, Brunson’s best mate and roommate at Villanova.
Next Rose signed another of Jalen’s college teammates, Donte DiVincenzo, on July 8, 2023. He agreed to a four-year, $50 million contract which looks like a bargain after a record-setting season. And this summer, Rose traded for yet another Villanova pal, Mikal Bridges. As you read this, Don Leon is plotting ways to bring back Ryan Arcidiacano and further complete the set.
As for Jalen’s allegedly meddlesome dad? Rick serves in Tom Thibodeau’s coaching cabinet.
Rather than hassle him Dallas-style, the Knicks have treated Jalen like the King of New York. He repaid their respect with legend-making on-court play and then sacrificed a potential $113 million by agreeing to a four-year, $156.5 million extension with the team this summer. Then New York responded to that by naming Jalen their Team Captain. This romance is getting as schmaltzy as a Lifetime movie. NBA teams aren’t supposed to work this harmoniously, right?
Not in Dallas, at least. Finally, last week, Mark Cuban apologized to Jalen for those comments he made about Brunson’s parents during contract negotiations. Appearing on Jalen’s podcast, Cuban expressed regret, saying, “I apologize. If I put you in a certain way, that wasn’t the intention. But it was hard to deal with. It was a unique negotiation in a lot of different ways.”
Forgive us for thinking Mark’s apology is as phony as a sales projection on TV’s Shark Tank. Baloney or not, the mea culpa was overdue. And it reminds us what an excellent executive Leon Rose has been for the Knicks. He welcomed his godson with open arms and built a team around the rising star that both keeps Jalen comfortable and puts him in a position to succeed.
Unlike Cuban, it’s unlikely that Rose will ever need to publicly apologize to Jalen Brunson for anything. After all, they’re family.
Go Knicks!