Brunson: “I’ve seen players wait and then get hurt, and then they’re at the mercy of the organization… 100% I sacrificed for the team. But most importantly, I made sure my family and I are taken care of…Obviously we’d love for them to do right by me. I think anyone would. I feel like I sacrificed.
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While management has built a roster to complement him, Brunson has reciprocated. In 2024 he signed a four-year, \(156.5 million extension—a dizzying sum, yet well short of the five-year, \)269 million deal he could have gotten had he waited a year.
There were clear reasons he “took the bag,” as he puts it. Waiting for the bigger contract carried risk, with an injury potentially jeopardizing the payday. “I’ve seen players wait and then get hurt, and then they’re at the mercy of the organization,” he says. Brunson, ever the pragmatist, preferred not to take that chance.
“If I’m thinking about playing well to make sure I get paid, that could mess with me,” he says. “I play best when I have a free mind, and that did that for me. A lot of people say I sacrificed for the team. One hundred percent I sacrificed for the team. But most importantly, I made sure my family and I are taken care of.”
Brunson’s \(113 million discount provided the Knicks with precious cap flexibility, but come 2028, he will be eligible for a five-year, \)417.8 million deal. He will be 32 entering that season, an age when smaller guards often show signs of decline, but Brunson is hopeful the Knicks will reward his team-friendly extension.
“Obviously we’d love for them to do right by me,” Brunson says. “I think anyone would. I feel like I sacrificed.”
Source: https://www.vanityfair.com/culture/story/jalen-brunson