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# Bedlam in the Mecca: a love letter to New York Basketball and Jalen Brunson.
- URL: https://nevergiveup.work/knicksin5/
- Published: 2026-11-04T04:12:31.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-04T18:41:42.000Z
- Description: As a lifelong Knicks fan, I liked the trade for Brunson, but I didn't expect it to play out the way it did. For me, he was just some guy who used to play on the Mavericks, albeit pretty well at times.
- Author: Hayden

### *IT'S OVER! IT'S OVER!! Knick fans, this is not a dream! Your long long wait has ended! Go ahead and cry…after 53 years the Knicks are finally NBA champions once again!*

- *Mike Breen, 2026*

---

## Ball is life

Basketball, especially in the great mecca of NYC, is ballet. Poetry in motion. A heartbeat of parks and playgrounds. 

It is also pageantry and soap opera. Streetball arguments can, and do, escalate into jump-ins with ripped clothes and balled fists. I've seen grown men punt a ball towards the heavens in protest of a disputed foul call. Unc vs. young buck is my favorite archetype of bball fight. *psst* (It's rarely wise for unc to engage.) 

Ball is life is not just a saying, but an adopted way of moving throughout the world. Whoever you are, whichever city or state or country in the world, you can get the smoke at any public park, YMCA, or planet fitness, any time of the year, any hour. From kids and oldies alike. *Talk your shit kid.*

And at the top of that mountain of culture and swagginess sits the NBA.

## The Players

The NBA is the peak of the "ball is life" mount rushmore of personalities. Like any good soap, the NBA has a cast. 

Players like Lebron, Jokic, Giannis, dominate headlines. The good guys... le best in le biz. 

Young guns like Ant Edwards and LaMelo Ball get a bad boy rep for driving fast cars, celebrating baskets like wrestlers with a pelvic thrust, pulling up from infinite range with a bravado that always teeters on the line of a technical foul for taunting with the shoulder lean finish. 

Then there's the new school of Villains. It all started with Trae Young. Then maybe Haliburton and Embiid. Why not incorporate Jayson Tatum. Perhaps a dash of dirty Wemby. I tell my girlfriend Atea, you need to know all of the major players in the league to appreciate the moving parts . Love you tay. (Thanks for watching some games with me.)

Sometimes, player personalities are intertwined with the reputation of the cities they play in. Damian lillard and his longtime, humble loyalty to portland. DRose and what he meant to the city of chicago. You never expect your hero to jump ship and sweat for another state, but even legends like Kawhi Leonard can fall, from a loyalty perspective. 

**And then, there's the shit talk:** 

Joakim Noah had a presser just to hate on Ohio's team:

> *"I mean, I never heard anybody say, ' I'm going to Cleveland on vacation.' What's so good about Cleveland?" - Joakim Noah \[4/19/2010\]*

I in fact, my mom reminds me, i did take a vacation to Cleveland. We went for christmas, to Barnes and Noble and perhaps also BestBuy. She says they have nice museums there and fruit. But why would Joakim say fuck cleveland like that? It's hilarious. It's not so different from wrestling superstars talking smack. 

These NBA guys have personalities that are larger than life. Kids look up to them like the characters in superhero comics. NBA players push culture forward around the globe. gladiators poking and retreating with the ultimate goal of victory for the team. Sometimes, whole states are the target of aforementioned shit-talk. *Sorry Cleveland.*

## The Top of the Mountain

The Larry O'Brien Trophy is the NBA's most prestigious accolade. golden, girthy, etched with names of victors of yore. a golden ball balanced precariously on a cup fit for a king. fun fact, the trophy, was designed by Tiffany & Co. how fancy. to win the NBA finals, and hoist that trophy up... covered in confetti... the cigars... wives and children and mothers in the stands... a champagne shower of Moet with big goggles. 

Or if you are chris bosh: raw in the eyes and mouth. 

![](https://static.klipy.com/ii/4493325008d34b7bf8cd6813cd5c1619/cc/b2/9St3Gg2HRlFmHWA53.gif)

That feeling is kind of the American dream. From a student shooting hoops in a church basement to a locker room full of foam. Hoisting a heavily sculpted mound of precious metal above your head. Auto-facialing with expensive sparkles when the cheap one's would have done just fine. 'merica. 

But all serious hoopers share the same goal - bring home the Larry O. Win a ring. That's the ultimate le fuck you. It's the boogeyman that lingers over players. 

## The Brunson Effect

And then there is Jalen Brunson. The 33rd overall pick in the 2018 NBA draft. Dallas Mavericks picked him, lucky bastards. He has neither explosive leaping nor game-changing quickness. scouts thought he might be "too old" at 21... "limited athleticism could make it harder to keep producing at the pros." blah blah blah

Jalen wasn't the most special player off the eye-test alone. A solid role player. Medium on defense, maybe a liability at times. He talks kind of like a frat bro, though with a charm and personality that sets him apart. He's a humble leader, has no issue supporting those around him. He has a bromance with Josh Hart and not me. Sometimes, he wants to be a hero. Don't we all?

I'm not a college sports fan, but Jalen was actually a 2x NCAA champ at Villanova. He also has his jersey retired by the institution. He was 2018 National player of the year & all american. the top point guard in the nation. the boy got his bachelors in just 3 years.

Anyway In Dallas, his OG pro team, it took Jalen a few years to get hot. By 2021-2022 season, JB had become a starter next to Luka Doncic, who was, at the time, THE emerging star in the league. 

When Luka got hurt during the regular season finale that year, Jalen got the starting spot to himself in the playoffs and he went APESHIT. 

- Game 1 L: 24 points, personal playoff record
- Game 2 W: 41 points, 15 of 25 shooting. no turnovers
- Game 3 W: 31 points off a bruised back.

Robin brought out the cape and looked like Batman. With the opening role up for grabs, Jalen dropped 96 points in 3 nights. It was too limited of a sample size and the world kind of chalked it up as a fluke. If not, who was on record predicting the storm ahead.

## Restored Hope and JB Values

As a lifelong Knicks fan, I liked the move the Knicks made in the trade for Brunson. However, I didn't expect it to play out the way it did. 

we bockers are scarred from projects come and gone. False promises of heroes coming to save us. Lebron this Giannis that. The Brunson experiment was trepidatiously embraced by some. Rejected as a sloppy re-route by others. I was kind of back and forth on the merits of him as a leader. My cousin, a villanova grad, was amped up to 11, and told me this was major. *We'll see, I thought.*

Jalen was balling. Getting better every day. His lack of flashiness was supplemented by a complete game: footwork, balance, selflessness, work-ethic, passing, three pointers, midrange, floater game, takes charges, leadership and trust. he is so shifty, so aware of his body, so controlled in his movements.

He had the reigns and was proving doubters wrong. Bet on himself

Jump forward to a paycut that shook the league by storm. Jalen left so much money on the table re-signing. On paper 100 million in practice more like 20-something. Bet on himself.

Left the organization with the funds to bring the band back together, Mikal Bridges and Josh Hart, college teammates/roommates. To win an NBA championship with your college roommate after doing it on a smaller scale at Nova. WOW!

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/09/cb/09cb0c94-614d-4700-84e9-a8911093ae29/content/images/2026/11/JBito.jpg)

## Game 4 of the 2025-2026 NBA Finals

I was in the building for the tip that rattled the world. The greatest comeback of all time. 29 points in the blink of an eye that felt like forever.   
a game 4 scorcher, seared into the deepest folds of my brain.  
A tip in that made the whole 5 boroughs, long island, jersey, and other disparate nooks of the world shake, but none louder than the big apple.

I cried with men and women, some hugging, some high fiving, some jumping, some on the ground weeping, dreading the final 1.2 seconds before the fate was crystallized.

None of this possible without my sister charlotte, who kept the season tickets alive, floating the 3k when i didn't have it.  
for cam who managed tix for a whole year just to keep us in the building.  
for richi who bought me out and kept it in the family.  
for catherine who encouraged char to let me go.  
for lewis, arlene, charles, howard, nilsa, Q, jean, and all my MSG folks for always welcoming me back with chicken fries beer and big smiles. working with you guys was a highlight of my career.

back to the game.

Around halftime, alvarado says "ayy we gotta stick together man, stay with it man. chop it down. they gonna give it to us just chop it down" before towns says "yea we gonna chop it down"

there is nothing like hope and family to convince you this shit might be possible . 3 mins in the 3Q the captain JB "let's play basketball now. just be smart and stay together, we;ve come back from worse, just chip away"

with about 6:00 minutes left in the game, jose alvarado tells OG "OG stay with it we about to go on a run right now." Next play he catches in space, takes one hard dribble to the basket, shaking wemby off the paint. before bouncing it to OG in the corner who drained the 3 . That is just walk it like you talk it aura.

Game 4: potentially the penultimate nail in a coffined curse, 53 years in the making. a franchise once a laughing stock around the league. overly scrutinized. talks of a super team from derrick rose made us all laugh. now we can laugh a heartier laugh

Then... PRESTO

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/09/cb/09cb0c94-614d-4700-84e9-a8911093ae29/content/images/2026/11/Larry-O.jpg)

## Keys to Success From the Knicks

- Don't be flashy, be smart and well-rounded.
- Leave money on the table if it means putting together a strong team that will uplift you. You will get yours. Bet on yourself.
- Be smart and stick together and stay with it, we gonna chop it down.
- Remember that you've come back from worse.
- Manifest the next play.
- Stick with it, good things can take decades.
- Family chemistry is better than everyone being an allstar... haydo out

### ***Yerrrrrr knicks in 5 yu heard. I want you to tell everybody that we back. My body different, i'm breathing different. no looking at the trophy till it's home, off the plane.***

*HASHTAGS: teamwork, family, friendship, work, capitalism, time is money thinking, perseverance, public narratives of who balls, complacency, recovery, sacrifices, and repeating success.*