New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson ascended to stardom under Tom Thibodeau. His father, Rick Brunson, played under Thibodeau when Thibodeau was an assistant for the Knicks and the Houston Rockets. Then Rick Brunson coached on Thibodeau’s bench, first with the Chicago Bulls, then with the Minnesota Timberwolves and most recently with the Knicks.
All three of them were part of the Knicks making the Eastern Conference finals this past season for the first time since 2000. New York fell two wins shy of its first trip to the NBA Finals since 1999.
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But, less than a week after the team’s Game 6 defeat to the Indiana Pacers, the Knicks fired Thibodeau. In July, they hired Mike Brown as their next head coach.
Jalen Brunson spoke publicly about the coaching change for the first time Tuesday when the Knicks held their season-opening media day.
“It’s sad to see a man I’ve known for a long time part ways with this organization,” Brunson, now a two-time NBA All-Star, said while fielding a question about Thibodeau’s removal.
“But he’s meant a lot to me. I’ve expressed that to him publicly and personally.”
Brunson added: “Yeah, he’s meant a lot to my career up to this point.”
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Brunson, a 2018 second-round pick of the Dallas Mavericks who won two NCAA championships at Villanova, signed with the Knicks in free agency ahead of the 2022-23 season and immediately made a splash. He’s averaged 26.4 points per game over the course of his first three seasons with the organization, leading New York to at least one playoff series victory each season.
During that stretch, he’s been joined by a collection of his college teammates, including Josh Hart, who previously played for the Los Angeles Lakers, New Orleans Pelicans and Portland Trail Blazers but signed a four-year, $81 million extension with the Knicks leading up to the 2023-24 season. This past season, Hart recorded a league-leading 37.6 minutes per game while averaging 13.6 points, 9.6 rebounds, 5.9 assists and 1.5 steals per game.
After talking Tuesday about enjoying the summer with his family, Hart stopped a reporter midway through their question about the…
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