Jalen Brunson Refuses to Look at the Larry O’Brien Trophy as Knicks Chase First Title Since 1973
Jalen Brunson is taking the basketball gods seriously. The Knicks star point guard has developed an unusual superstition during the NBA Finals: he will not go into any room that features the likeness of the Larry O’Brien Trophy. Not for interviews. Not for promotional shoots. Not for anything.
ESPN’s Malika Andrews brought it up during an interview that aired on NBA Today this week. When asked about the superstition, Brunson refused to even discuss it. He just kept saying “No comment” until Andrews moved on.
The basketball superstition culture is real, and Brunson has always been one of those guys who takes the unwritten rules seriously. He does not want to jinx anything. He does not want to give karma any reason to flip the script. He treats the trophy like Voldemort, and you can almost respect the commitment.
For the Knicks, the timing is everything. New York just stole Game 1 of the Finals in San Antonio with a 105-95 win over the Spurs. Brunson dropped 30 points, and the team rallied from a 14-point deficit in the third quarter to take a 1-0 series lead. They are now three wins away from the franchise’s first NBA championship since 1973.
Brunson, 29, is a three-time All-Star and the undisputed leader of this Knicks team. He carries the weight of New York basketball on his shoulders every night, and he has handled it. He gutted through a real injury scare in Game 1 to deliver the win, and he has been the calmest guy in the building during every high-leverage moment of this playoff run.
The 1973 reference is the one that hangs over every Knicks fan. Walt Frazier and Dave DeBusschere were the leaders the last time New York won a title. Most of the fan base was either not born or not paying attention to basketball when it happened. The drought has become its own character in the franchise’s story.
Brunson grew up around the league. His dad, Rick Brunson, played for the Knicks. He understands the history. He knows that bringing the trophy back to Madison Square Garden would change his place in the franchise’s history forever.
That is part of why the superstition makes sense. Brunson is one of the most prepared players in the league mentally, and that preparation includes managing his own expectations. By refusing to engage with the idea of the trophy, he keeps himself focused on the immediate task instead of the bigger picture.
The Knicks are not done yet. The Spurs are too good to roll over, and Victor Wembanyama is still capable of taking over any game in the series. San Antonio comes in as a 5.5-point favorite for Game 2, and the league expects the Spurs to play with desperation now that they are down 1-0 at home.
But the Knicks have something the Spurs do not have. They have a 12-game winning streak in the postseason. They have a leader who has refused to lose in the moments that matter. They have a system that has been generating consistent offense regardless of who shows up defensively.
Brunson’s superstition will get plenty of attention through the rest of the Finals. Reporters will keep asking. He will keep saying nothing. The trophy will keep sitting wherever it sits, untouched by his eyes.
If the Knicks win this thing, that trophy is the one he is going to want to hold above his head. Until then, he just wants nothing to do with it.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
