New York Knicks star Jalen Brunson is one of the top players in the NBA. However, this recognition took several years of hard work, during which he built his skills and enhanced his value in the league.
The Dallas Mavericks’ current minority owner, Mark Cuban, recently joined Erik Torenberg in the latest episode of The a16z Podcast. During the discussion, Cuban reflected on Brunson’s story, rising from a chubby guy to a midrange star.
“He was just some chubby guy…we picked him 33rd…His go-to was a spin or move to the left & he’d fall away & never got the foul…Now his midrange is money…That’s what you don’t know when you draft…mental capacity…will they work hard to improve,” Cuban said.
The Mavericks selected Brunson with the 33rd overall pick in the 2018 NBA draft. He played four seasons with the team before joining the Knicks on June 2, 2022. Brunson made strong relationships during his time with the Mavericks, once referring to his former coach, Jason Kidd, as his second all-time favourite coach.
Pablo Torre’s Next Target Is Jalen Brunson 
Pablo Torre recently made a major stir in the league with his reports about the Los Angeles Clippers owner, Steve Ballmer, and Kawhi Leonard. Torre revealed that Leonard allegedly signed a $28 million “no-show job” endorsement deal with a fraudulent tree-planting company to circumvent the salary cap. He also claimed that Ballmer secretly funded this company by $50 million. During an appearance on The Dan Patrick Show, Torre mentioned that he is now investigating Brunson’s $113 million pay cut.
“It’s funny, my tip line has never been more used by enemies of Jalen Brunson. Like, ‘Look into that one!’ As well as like James Harden. Well, look, how he arrived at the Knicks, this is where I have to defer to the reporting I may or may not do on this, certainly was interesting. Right? Like, ‘Okay, that’s a pretty good deal for the Knicks.’ Anyway, I don’t want to get ahead of myself in terms of that,” Torre said.
Brunson signed a four-year contract extension worth $156.5 million.
The post Mark Cuban Reflects On Jalen Brunson’s Rise From “Chubby Guy” To Midrange Star originally published on Total Pro Sports.