Mark Cuban and Jalen Brunson hashed out what Brunson felt was a “little jab” from Cuban regarding the role of Brunson’s father, Rick Brunson, in Jalen’s negotiations to stay with Dallas in the summer of 2022. This was during Cuban’s appearance on “Roommates Show,” the podcast hosted by Jalen and his New York Knicks teammate Josh Hart.
Also on the show, Cuban was asked by Hart why the Mavericks drafted Brunson — whom Hart, ever the jabber himself, called “the little fat-headed kid from Villanova” — in the first place.
That’s when Cuban revealed exactly what was going on in the Mavericks’ war room during the 2018 draft and how Brunson’s scouting report read.
“We traded up to get Luka [Doncic] and we get [to] the number 31 [pick],” Cuban began, “and all the scouts were like, ‘JB [Jalen Brunson], JB, JB, JB. He’s a winner, yada yada. Little bit chubby, not quite as fast, not super athletic, but he’s a winner, he’s a champion. You can’t put a value on that. That’s our guy.'”
A little bit chubby! This is hilarious only because you can tell Brunson isn’t offended, and Hart is of course loving the dig at his boy. Both guys started laughing immediately. Their camaraderie is perfect on the court and it’s equally perfect on this podcast.
It’s also a fair assessment of Brunson, who is, shall we say, a stocky build and came into the league at 6-foot-1 and just under 200 pounds. It’s like calling Luka a little chubby. It is what it is, and the size of both those guys is a major part of their leverage. Both guys own their space and can maneuver angles without blowing by defenders.
Perhaps there was a question whether Luka and Brunson could coexist in the same backcourt as similarly built players, though Doncic is obviously much bigger. Frankly, it’s probably the same qualms they had about the pairing when they wouldn’t commit to Brunson for a max contract when he left for the Knicks.
It was for the best on both sides. Both Brunson and Doncic need the ball and control of the offense. It makes all the basketball sense, but…
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