Doncic, the other loser: Brunson stood him up to win the ring before him
Leaving the boss you owe, setting out on your own and achieving his goal before him: is, for now, the story of the relationship between Jalen Brunson and Luka Doncic, the other big loser of the NBA Finals after Victor Wembanyama.
Doncic still has 27 yearsa huge talent and some Lakers who blindly believe in the former Real Madrid player. But the reality is that the one who was his second in command in Dallas as a substitute point guard has won the ring before him with this NBA championship that the New York Knicks.
Jalen Brunson arrived in the best league in the world in 2018 like Doncic and much less media noise, drafted at 33 while ’77’ was drafted at 3 by the Atlanta Hawks and later transferred to the Mavericks for Bring Young.
The American point guard established himself in Dallas as a luxury squire for Doncic, who could go to rest quietly on the bench when Brunson came out to play. The now star of the Knicks 29 years He also proved capable of leading the Mavericks when the former Real Madrid player was injured.
The duo progressed the Mavericks to the point of leading the Texas team to a surprising Conference Finals in 2022, but Jalen Brunson was not contemplating continuing that partnership with Doncic and decided to start managing a team on his own.
In the summer of 2022, Brunson took advantage of the freedom that being a free agent gave him to decide his destiny and arrived in New York to sign for 4 years and 104 million with the Knicks. The point guard had just averaged 16 points with Dallas and leaving Doncic’s shadow to expose himself to the lights of the Big Apple with the decades of disappointments that the Knicks had accumulated seemed like a risky adventure.
But, as the saying goes, he who does not risk does not gain and Jalen Brunson separated himself from the Slovenian to win before him and also win everything: not only the ring and the MVP of the Finals, but also the NBA Cup and its MVP. The servant, better than the boss.
