As if Jalen Brunson hadn’t endeared himself to the Knicks’ fanbase already, he decided to take a massive pay cut earlier this offseason. Due to his decision, the team was able to bring in Mikal Bridges and can still bring in another key player. Seeing this, Miami Heat legend, Udonis Haslem kept gushing about the Knicks star, even making a bold prediction about his future.
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Brunson recently signed a four-year, $156 million contract, leaving a whopping $113 million on the table in the process. Haslem believes that whether or not the Knicks ever win, this move guarantees that the organization will take care of him when he gets old. He predicted that they would make sure he had a massive paycheck as he entered the twilight years of his career. Haslem said,
“He’s going to be a Knick forever!… He going to be a Knick for the rest of your [his] career. And when it’s time, We [the Knicks] gon make sure we take care of you forever!”
Now that Jalen Brunson has benefitted the franchise in such a massive way, the Knicks now have two responsibilities toward him.
The first one is to make sure that they have the right team around him to help the team win it all. And as Haslem said, the second one is to take care of him with massive paychecks after his current contract.
Leaving $113 million on the table is no laughing matter. That kind of money can be the genesis of generational wealth if used right. However, Brunson has sacrificed that just so that the Mecca of basketball can learn what it means to win in this modern era.
Even if the franchise never wins, he will go down as a New York Knicks legend just for this move of his. And if the organization ever refuses to take care of him later in his career, there may just be riots in the city, in his honor after this. So, the Knicks do need to tread carefully.
