Jalen Brunson

5:21Jalen Brunson:wow

5:22Steph McMahon:that seems too easy yeah it's probably

5:25Jalen Brunson:this is probably a test on the way probably you're like

5:28Steph McMahon:now that I hear this I think you've passed the test yeah but they're I mean they're great were they in the wedding they were in the wedding

5:36Jalen Brunson:yeah they were in the wedding they're great they're just the way they act with each other it's funny to me yeah it's funny to me yeah

5:43Steph McMahon:that's good it's entertaining very yes and they're welcoming oh yeah yeah they're they're unbelievable the whole family

5:49Jalen Brunson:is unbelievable i had you got lucky very it's very different from my family but um how so my family's weird my family's weird uh we joke around a lot we are very tough on each on each other um nothing's safe really like it's always a joke inbound so like um in the in the wrestling

6:16Steph McMahon:business we call it ribbing on the square where you're like joking but not you're not that's kind of that yes is there a recent example and does it mainly come from your dad

6:28Jalen Brunson:dad yeah it's me dad or erica not my mom really no sometimes when she's when she's in the mood but it's usually us three i don't have an example really but it's just it's always quick witted

6:42Steph McMahon:stuff it's right right yeah like outsmarting each other absolutely yeah that's fun always witty banter yeah does that come from wrestling promos at all maybe from my end not from them

6:53Jalen Brunson:not from them from me yeah from me

6:57Steph McMahon:I was gonna ask super competitive right is it just you that's competitive your dad

7:02Jalen Brunson:me and dad are competitive with each other with each other um

7:09Jalen Brunson:we're not too competitive the only the only comparison that me and her have right now is like we both moved to Villanova um she graduated with a higher GPA oh

7:21Steph McMahon:bragging rights same degree oh really

7:24Jalen Brunson:she took four years I took three oh plus I played a sport

7:28Steph McMahon:in that scenario

7:29Jalen Brunson:plus I played a sport I don't know

7:33Steph McMahon:I'm not taking sides

7:37Jalen Brunson:that's our I know better than that the debate is who's smarter I'm like she's like well I studied and I said well I didn't study and I'm 0.1 GPA I'm a 3.4 you're a 3.9 I'm smarter she's like actually I'm smarter I'm taking it to a degree I'm smarter

7:58Steph McMahon:it's interesting how you're not competitive with your sister right

8:04Jalen Brunson:it's probably a lie

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8:47Steph McMahon:No long waits, no online guesswork. When life demands you be at your best, every day is game day. Learn more or book your visit at gamedaymenshealth.com. So what is it like being coached by your dad as you're growing up, but then also he's still coaching with the Knicks now, right?

9:11Jalen Brunson:Yeah.

9:11Steph McMahon:um what is that like you know for you and and is are there moments of friction is it a positive is

9:19Jalen Brunson:it you know it's um it's a positive yeah there's moments of friction but it's a positive um my dad he mentored me like he trained me growing up um he was never like a coach like on a team for me growing up okay so this is the first time that he's actually coaching me on a team He coached me on the side. He coached me within, like if I was playing for my college coach, he helped me within that system. But it was never him coaching me on a team. So this dynamic is totally different. He has to focus on everyone. Right, not just you. Not just me. But he's still, he's just as hard on me about everything I do.

10:05Jalen Brunson:Harder in some cases? Yeah. Yeah, but I think now that I'm older and I kind of have a say with him, we talk it out, but there's still a majority of him just talking to me and me listening, but it's fantastic. He holds me accountable every single day, which seems annoying, but in the end it's turning out pretty well.

10:29Steph McMahon:It makes you a better person, better player.

10:31Jalen Brunson:Yeah, it does. It gets annoying, but I mean, it puts me in a position to be successful for sure.

10:38Steph McMahon:Seems like you handle it really well.

10:40Jalen Brunson:Yeah. Yeah. I've learned when he's being a dad and when he's being a coach. Like when we're inside the lines, it's coach. It's coach. As soon as practice is over, we're joking. It's dad. As soon as the game's over, like, well, if I play good, he'll joke around. If I play bad, he won't say anything to me until the next day. but he will never talk to me after a game he's always like we'll reconvene tomorrow we'll talk about tomorrow but we won't get into it right now.

11:10Steph McMahon:We respect each other

11:10Jalen Brunson:100 % no question about that

11:14Steph McMahon:I had to learn that difference and my dad was Vince in business and then he was dad at home. The lines blurred a lot though particularly when you're playing a storyline out you know on live television but yeah but it is it's an interesting dynamic you know and how you

11:35Jalen Brunson:and respecting both sides right it's it's tough it's really tough and then you never really know like like where you are emotionally at that exact time you never know where this conversation is going to go like i've he talked about it recently like there have been moments where like obviously if I cursed at my dad off the court, we're getting an argument. It's not going to end well.

12:00Steph McMahon:Right.

12:00Jalen Brunson:It's a no-no. But on the court, one time he said something to me and I was just like, in the heat of the moment, I was like, shut the hell up. Well, shut the F up. It's a different, yeah. And he looked at me and he looked at me and was like, okay. He didn't say okay, but he was just like.

12:17Steph McMahon:We'll talk about this later.

12:18Jalen Brunson:A little later. And I was like, so you can't, on the court, I'll give you that. But off the court, you can't do that. I'm like,

12:24Steph McMahon:hmm.

12:25Jalen Brunson:That's a little give. It's a little win.

12:27Steph McMahon:You guys have like a bad fight the next day at practice. You're just going off on them.

12:32Jalen Brunson:Oh, yeah. It wouldn't work in practice. Only in game time.

12:37Steph McMahon:Only in game time. Heat of the moment.

12:39Jalen Brunson:Practice is, there's no outside media, no camera, so that wouldn't work, but yeah.

12:47Steph McMahon:Nor would you want to necessarily, right? You don't talk to your,

12:50Jalen Brunson:I don't talk to my parents that way. Yeah. I don't talk to my parents.

12:53Steph McMahon:What about coaches? Do you talk to coaches that way in general?

12:56Jalen Brunson:No.

13:00Jalen Brunson:Honestly, he's the first coach I've ever really like cursed at.

13:04Steph McMahon:See? Yeah.

13:05Jalen Brunson:Damn. Yeah.

13:10Jalen Brunson:Like, yeah, he's like the first coach I actually like cursed at. No, actually not. Tell me.

13:14Steph McMahon:Oh, there's something popped in your head.

13:17Jalen Brunson:Yeah.

13:18Steph McMahon:Without saying the name, what was the story? or can you not tell it?

13:23Jalen Brunson:They'll give it away. Okay. All right. All right. But there was a moment. Moments.

13:29Steph McMahon:Moments. Okay. Yeah. All right. Younger? Yeah.

13:34Jalen Brunson:Yeah. I mean, yeah. Younger. I won't keep it. In the NBA. In the NBA. Okay. Yeah. That's kind of where I was going. Yeah. In the NBA. Yeah.

13:41Steph McMahon:And what would you say, like you said, you learned what not to do with your wife. I think it's really important in life to learn what not to do as well as what to do. And maybe this coach taught you what not to do in that moment. So what are some of the key lessons that you've learned that you've taken away from coaches positively and negatively?

14:10Jalen Brunson:Well, I still keep in touch with most of my coaches I've had, like my high school coach, my middle school coach. Really? Yeah, my college coach. Middle school? Yeah. My middle school coach actually helps out with my camp in the summertime. So does my high school coach. They help out foundation-wise as well. I keep in touch with them. I feel like I've learned. Obviously, you learn basketball from them, but you learn so much just being around them. You pick up things as you go along. Oh, I learned this from this coach. I learned this from that coach. You kind of blend it to make it your own style of play.

14:51Jalen Brunson:yeah I keep in contact with all of them and I feel like I gained a relationship and like a mentor more than anything obviously how my dad, my dad played in the NBA and I got to learn a lot from him basketball wise but like meeting people like that who may not have had that type of experience that my dad had you get a different perspective and you enjoy it, you appreciate it and yeah I mean I've learned something along the way every time I've been somewhere.

15:19Steph McMahon:I think the best coaches are often life coaches too.

15:23Jalen Brunson:Right. Because they teach you how to be the best person you can be,

15:27Steph McMahon:not only the best player you can be.

15:29Jalen Brunson:Right, yeah.

15:29Steph McMahon:If they're a good coach.

15:31Jalen Brunson:Yeah, yeah. We all won. Each coach I had back then, we all won something. So it's meant a lot to me.

15:41Steph McMahon:And can you talk a little bit about your foundation and your camps?

15:45Jalen Brunson:Yeah.

15:45Steph McMahon:so second round foundation is the name and second round got drafted in the second round yeah um so with that being said like it's you're kind of being overlooked it's like

15:59Jalen Brunson:my like philosophy going into my foundation is like you're being overlooked like how can you be the best person player or whatever you want to be how can you be the best at whatever you want to do it's by hard work it's by education it's by uh like will it's about like your mentality and so um when I go to my high school camps, that's why I talk about no matter what you do, this may not be your favorite sport. You may be better at something else. It may not even be a sport. However you attack it, you attack it fully. You attack it until you can't do it anymore. That's just the mindset I want to instill in the youth with sport, with education.

16:42Jalen Brunson:The coolest thing about it, Like, I don't think the name is very unique to obviously what I'm doing now. But no matter what, I would have given back to the community somehow, some way. That's just who I am. That's just how I've been raised. And it doesn't really matter, like, what I did or what I became. It was always going to be something for me to give back.

17:00Steph McMahon:And now you're in a position where you can do that in an even bigger, more meaningful, more impactful way.

17:06Jalen Brunson:Yeah.

17:07Steph McMahon:And now you're imparting some of the lessons that you learned. so what is that um it's a winning at life mentality right like you were saying whatever it is you attack it fully can you explain that a little bit more yeah so you always want to um

17:24Jalen Brunson:you always want to record obviously that's number one um what is just as important is controlling what you can control like there's so many outside factors that have nothing really to do with you but for some reason you let that seep into your mind and so um when you control the things that you're able to control it helps you become a better person helps you focus on the things that's actually important to help you achieve whatever your goals are um you cut out all the bs you just you cut everything else out like hey this i can't control that my mind's not focused on that this is what i'm focused on and it helps you achieve your goal faster at least in my as it and when you're worried about what people say about you or think about you, positive or negative, it can stunt your growth.

18:09Jalen Brunson:And so for me, that's a couple of messages I'm trying to hammer home for people that I'm trying to help.

18:17Steph McMahon:What about social media?

18:22Jalen Brunson:Social media is tough. Obviously, it's a way to connect and I love it. It's a way to connect. um but like now with like all like the gambling stuff and um player props and everything you're you can't you can't keep everyone happy that someone's gonna be upset that you messed up their their bet or their slip or whatever and they're gonna attack you yeah somehow some way and i look at it and i laugh like now i laugh at first i was like what the hell is going on now i laugh like it's actually like comical knowing that people will message me and say hey like i just bet my entire mortgage on you yes i'm like why you have a problem did i tell you to do that or like my rent or or something like i need help with uh tuition i'm like so you're betting like i just but like now it's funny there's some that are scary and some that we actually have to deal with but um but yeah it's that part of it is funny now but it always hasn't been hasn't always been and what about for kids you know the kids

19:32Steph McMahon:you're coaching the kids that that you're working with like how how do you help them with social media and drowning out noise or or hate or while still encouraging connectivity and community

19:47Jalen Brunson:that's actually good i should the tricky part i think i can probably do a better job of that as you say that wanting to make sure that obviously you want to be as positive as you want you don't want to like post every single thought even though it's like you can you can post every single thought every single thought you have but keep everything positive and not everyone needs to know everything right and I think it's very important it's something that I probably should start doing more of yeah

20:15Steph McMahon:privacy I hadn't really thought about that either

20:19Jalen Brunson:you know yeah everyone knowing everything is unnecessary very yeah and especially when you're a public figure

20:27Steph McMahon:but and and when you're a kid right if you have to post what you eat what you wear which should i wear this outfit should i wear that outfit yeah but then when you think about as a grown person right like yeah no not everybody needs to know everything about your business right and you feel like you're supposed to share it all for some reason but why it's your life you share what you want to share people are getting paid to literally share their every move every outfit well that might be different so like this younger generation is that's what they see that's like one thing I worry about I have two young kids and I'm like how early we're talking about cell phones at six years old no yeah I don't know

21:16Jalen Brunson:but my daughter has even truly like she doesn't have an iPad she hasn't really watched TV yet we're kind of we're slowly integrating that like every now and then if we're watching something she'll like look up but like maybe a little wrestling yeah maybe a little here and there she definitely will be watching that but yeah I feel like integrating that so young I've seen it and I'm just like not really for that right now but she loves her books

21:48Steph McMahon:that's great

21:50Jalen Brunson:she does love her books does she like pull you down

21:54Steph McMahon:and hand you a book to read

21:57Jalen Brunson:so before bed when I'm home sometimes I read to her and we'll read a book I'm like okay goodnight she'll just go like

22:08Steph McMahon:you're not done

22:08Jalen Brunson:and then we get another book and then there's another book and then we'll read like three or four books I'm like, it's time to go to bed.

22:15Steph McMahon:Does she ever go to bed?

22:17Jalen Brunson:Yeah.

22:19Steph McMahon:Yeah. Yeah. Eventually.

22:21Jalen Brunson:Eventually. Sometimes she's up, but she's been pretty good through the night now.

22:27Steph McMahon:That's great.

22:28Jalen Brunson:Yeah. Last night was bad. Now that I say it, last night was bad because we flew back from All-Star last night. Right. A little time change messed her up. Yeah. Yeah. I used to have my kids on the road and I would try to keep them on East Coast time because we don't we.

22:47Steph McMahon:Oh, yeah. Yeah. We'd travel in and then we had a bus, a tour bus. It was kind of like our apartment. Right. And and then we'd go, you know, to the next town and then typically we'd leave the next day. So it wasn't really long enough to acclimate to a new time change. So I would try to keep them on East Coast time. and when you're in California or you know wherever that's 3am wake up call and the restaurant's not open so you can't bring them in the hotel you know because we park in the parking lot you can't bring them in for breakfast or anything like that so it's like Cheerios trying to put them to bed when it's light out and you're like no no trust me it's bedtime you can pull shades down on the bus but yeah but they never

23:29Jalen Brunson:she has legit like blackout curtains it'll be full on bright outside and there's no light in her room. No ounce of light. Yeah. No ounce of light in her room. Yeah.

23:37Steph McMahon:I try to do that for me too. Sounds great. Yeah. It's like a cave. Oh, man. It's a good thing.

23:47Jalen Brunson:Sometimes I want blackout curtains, but I feel like I'm going to miss something.

23:51Steph McMahon:Oh, yeah?

23:52Jalen Brunson:Yeah.

23:52Steph McMahon:My youngest, who now is almost 16, is like that. She likes her curtains open.

23:58Jalen Brunson:I don't like them open. Oh, no. She likes them open.

24:00Steph McMahon:She wants to know when it's morning time so she could get up. Yeah. I don't know where she gets.

24:05Jalen Brunson:I need like that, like a little bit of light. Just a little glimmer. Just a little bit of light.

24:09Steph McMahon:Do you have a hatch alarm? Have you heard of those? She does. Yeah.

24:14Jalen Brunson:My daughter does. Jordan knows. What's the red and the green?

24:16Steph McMahon:It like starts to wake up. It gives you certain light, varying degrees of light, right?

24:23Jalen Brunson:No, I just have a regular phone alarm. Regular phone alarm. Yeah.

24:29Steph McMahon:So a little bit of light and a phone alarm and that's good for you. I love my mattress from Brooklyn Bedding. The first thing I noticed was how stable and solid it felt, as if it was built to last decades, not just a few years. The thoughtful design shows in every moment you spend on it. Brooklyn Bedding knows sleep isn't one size fits all. That's why they offer mattresses for everybody, every sleep style, even in hard-to-find sizes. With Brooklyn Bedding, you get high-end comfort without the high-end price. Go to brooklynbedding.com and use my promo code, Steph, at checkout to get 30 % off site-wide.

25:10Steph McMahon:This offer is not available anywhere else. That's brooklynbedding.com and promo code S-T-E-P-H for 30 % off site-wide. Support our show and let them know we sent you after checkout. brooklynbetting.com promo code Steph what's your night before routine what's your day of routine so

25:36Jalen Brunson:night before so we just had practice obviously night before I always go back about 95 % of the time I always go back before a home game so I go back I shoot for about 20 minutes 20 to 30 minutes just like a simple routine that's it's really not that much but it's like it gets my mind right and it's and then um obviously go home eat dinner and get ready for bed do whatever um day of so if you have a game at 7 30 tomorrow uh she runs gonna be at 10 o 'clock um i probably leave the house around 8 30 8 45 get there around depending you know uh about like 9 15 ish it's like 9 20 i'm in the training room at 940 I'm on the court doing my routine before shoot around we have a shoot around for about an hour then I cold tub right after shoot around chocolate peanut butter protein shake go home

26:38Steph McMahon:oh you will go home

26:39Jalen Brunson:yeah I'll go home for a little bit excuse me I forgot a big thing night before I always pick up my outfit okay night before because day of You start switching and then you're just. Yeah, it's not good. So I try to do that night before. And then get home, do my Normatech recovery boots, take a nap for no longer than 90 minutes-ish. Wake up, eat, get to the garden, and then that's a whole other routine.

27:09Steph McMahon:So a nap. Yeah. And that just chills you out?

27:14Jalen Brunson:Yeah, it's a long day. And sometimes I don't get the best sleep.

27:18Steph McMahon:The night before?

27:19Jalen Brunson:Yeah. Yeah. I take a nap for I can't do longer than 90 minutes if I do that I feel like a little tired yeah

27:27Steph McMahon:and that's for home games or every game

27:30Jalen Brunson:home games excuse me that the whole routine was for home games on the road when you're in a hotel it's a little different

27:37Steph McMahon:okay

27:38Jalen Brunson:but I mean there's still gonna be a nap it varies a little bit on the road if it's an early game obviously there's no nap right no nap time but like after 7, 7.30 yeah I'll take a nap it's good

27:53Steph McMahon:what's the pregame meal doesn't matter except the chocolate peanut butter shake

28:00Jalen Brunson:the shake kind of

28:01Steph McMahon:because you were very specific about that and now I want one that stays the same as their added chocolate is just chocolate flavor protein plus peanut butter

28:11Jalen Brunson:chocolate protein like peanut butter, banana coconut water ice and either pineapple or mango, whatever I'm feeling that day.

28:20Steph McMahon:Do you ever put instant coffee packets in there?

28:23Jalen Brunson:I don't do coffee on game day. Oh, no. I'm not on game day. Latte.

28:26Steph McMahon:Okay. See? No coffee on game day. Interesting.

28:28Jalen Brunson:No coffee on game day.

28:30Steph McMahon:Matcha. Matcha. I find out all the secrets. Yeah. Matcha.

28:34Jalen Brunson:And what are the recovery boots? Like the Normatec recovery boots that you sell in.

28:39Steph McMahon:Oh, the inflatable ones? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

28:42Jalen Brunson:Yeah. No, no, not the water. Yeah, no, it's just inflated.

28:45Steph McMahon:Oh, yeah. It's like pressure.

28:47Jalen Brunson:that's like kind of like you're supposed to help you get your legs back. Sometimes I feel like it works, sometimes it doesn't. But I do it. But you're just going to do it anyway. Yeah, just in case.

28:58Steph McMahon:And how about in the car rides? Who are we listening to?

29:02Jalen Brunson:Car rides, it varies.

29:05Steph McMahon:I'm like you're in and out twice, right?

29:07Jalen Brunson:It varies. Whatever I'm feeling, if I feel like I need to pick me up, something that will get me going. If I feel like too too hyper, I'll listen to something a little bit more mellow. But the last song I listened to before, or after our team meeting, right before we run out, it's always a Bieber song. Really? Yeah.

29:28Steph McMahon:Any particular one?

29:29Jalen Brunson:No. I'll shuffle it. It's either one or two, depending on how much time we have after the meeting.

29:34Steph McMahon:Huh. And how'd you get into that? Oh.

29:41Steph McMahon:That's cool. I love that. She

29:45Jalen Brunson:in my freshman year of college it's when Purpose came out this Purpose album came out and then I listened to it like before games I would listen to it and we were winning we were playing well and then we won a national championship my freshman year so alright I'm just gonna keep this a thing and then

30:00Steph McMahon:and is he aware

30:04Jalen Brunson:probably but

30:05Steph McMahon:I don't know does he know you're a believer a hope

30:09Jalen Brunson:I mean I hope I mean I hope but yeah Yeah, his music's helped me out a little bit.

30:16Steph McMahon:I met him once.

30:17Jalen Brunson:Yeah?

30:17Steph McMahon:Yeah, briefly before a Floyd Mayweather fight.

30:20Jalen Brunson:Good dude?

30:21Steph McMahon:Yeah, well, he seemed to be. Yeah.

30:24Jalen Brunson:Love his music.

30:25Steph McMahon:Yeah. Obviously, it works for you. That's a good thing. Yes, we like that that works for you.

30:30Jalen Brunson:So after freshman year, we won a national championship. And then my junior year, we won again. I'm like, all right, this is a staple of my routine.

30:38Steph McMahon:so now you grew up being around basketball with your dad being a player and traveling and being exposed to all of these different stars your whole life which is very similar to me in the wrestling world like I was you know everybody's coming over for dinner you know it was like come home from school and Ric Flair's in my living room like yes always entertaining Yes, he was always entertaining. But so it's funny because people, you know, wrestling fans freak out that, you know, that was kind of my life. You know, Andre was one of my best friends, Andre the Giant. And I'm curious from your perspective, basketball fans, I'm sure, freak out about all of the interactions that you've had.

31:30Steph McMahon:And I know you've told some of those stories, but what do you think you learned the most being around everybody all that time?

31:39Jalen Brunson:I learned that one, it was not normal. I thought it was normal. Yeah. Yeah. It's normal for us. You're around it. Yeah. I told a story like a long time ago and it made its rounds. I met Michael Jordan when he was with the Wizards and I had his jersey. like when I was younger whenever Irvina we were at I always got like that team's jersey and it was a Michael Jordan jersey and I met him after the game said hey do you want me to sign your jersey and I said no you'll mess it up yeah so so

32:11Steph McMahon:has he not sent you a signed jersey

32:14Jalen Brunson:no I should probably get that done we should we should make that happen he probably has a little resentment for me for that but yeah like the coolest thing that I learned though it's like you see like you see like the finished product you see like the guys on the court you see them playing well you see like like all the hoopla of like everything that's going on when you when it's in front of a camera like when you see them in the practice gym or you see them in the summer times and you see like no one's around like how hard these guys work yeah and you see that you're like the process the process and like these guys really do work hard and then you also see the people that don't work hard right you're like that guy's really good he doesn't really work that hard as much as i thought he would after seeing like what my like my dad worked really hard like yeah like he obviously was on on guaranteed contracts every year for his entire career and then just seeing him work every summer on family vacations like he's still like working out training like he's always doing something and i just thought that was normal so that's what i kind of implemented into my routine in my life but then you see there's some guys that don't really do that much and it kind of do you lose respect?

33:31Jalen Brunson:no I don't lose respect no everyone has their own thing right everyone has their own thing as long as you show up and you're ready to go right do what you gotta do but I just know how my confidence comes to my work ethic so if I'm working I'm confident I'm good it's like preparing for a test you study you're gonna be prepared for it you see a lot and um i was very thankful that i did so work ethic obviously above all right and that's what

34:01Steph McMahon:you were saying too it's the first thing that comes to mind when you are coaching athletes yourself right um you know in life or otherwise um why do you think that's so important why does

34:14Jalen Brunson:it give you that confidence um well for me like i just know that um like when i'm working i'm not second guessing myself there's times where i do second guess second guess myself it may game i always talk to myself like hey like you work way too hard to be confident yeah you work too hard so stop overthinking just play um your self-talk yeah my self-talk i i it works like for me it works and I just know what I put into this and so um just try my best not to feel any uh type of way

34:49Steph McMahon:um you know it's interesting Floyd and my husband will tell this story because that's he was walking Floyd to the ring we were in his locker room before a big fight and he was just hanging out on the sofa and his kids were all running around and he was just hanging out and you know And Paul asked him, like, so what's your what are you thinking now? Like, what are you what do you do before your fight? And he said, well, if I'm not ready by the time I get here, he said that I'm not I'm not ever going to be ready. You know, and it was such an interesting perspective, you know, just because everybody gets nervous right before they do something.

35:28Steph McMahon:And it's like, no, no, if you're prepared, if you've done everything you possibly can to prepare for that moment, then you have to have the confidence in yourself. that you know what you're going to do. Obviously, you don't know what's going to happen or what other people are going to do or circumstances you can't control, but you can control the work you put in.

35:48Jalen Brunson:Exactly.

35:49Steph McMahon:And then it's second nature versus having to think so much.

35:53Jalen Brunson:Right. Right? I remember someone asking me, like, what do you work on in the summertime and off-season? I work on trying to be the most complete player I can be. You work on a lot of different things. You work on a lot of different situations. so it becomes like natural so it becomes instinct like I don't think oh I'm going to do this and this and this and it never really works out that way you kind of want to kind of play off like your habits and your instincts and so when I think about like game time situations and what I'm doing on the court like in the summer times like how can I get to a point where these things are comfortable so I can actually do it and react instead of having to think about it

36:33Steph McMahon:I love that philosophy and it certainly works for you i mean i hope i hope i love that everywhere you go nicks fans chant mvp yeah i mean that's pretty cool even even at the garden for wwe they were

36:51Jalen Brunson:chanting mvp so that with that that adrenaline rush there was crazier than any other like game any any type of environment i've been in because like like you said like when you're prepared for moments like you're not really worried about anything like that like i was not prepared for what i was getting myself into there's not a lot of rehearsals yeah yeah you're not like i know what to do but like the thing is like in like in the game like you practice certain things like you right you kind to know what you're going to get yourself into. Certain scenarios. Yeah, that was...

37:28Steph McMahon:There's nothing like it. There's nothing like it. It's the ultimate drug. It really is.

37:33Jalen Brunson:Especially being at MSG. If it was anywhere else, I don't know. But being in that place...

37:40Steph McMahon:I mean, you had some swagger, I have to say. You really did. I tried.

37:44Jalen Brunson:I tried not to hurt my hand, too. Yeah, I'm sure.

37:49Steph McMahon:And hop in the barrier, even. you were like cool jumping over the barrier I was just

37:55Jalen Brunson:don't trip no I didn't I don't know if I did the whole thing was a blur that's how it happens

38:05Steph McMahon:and then you replay it like a million times yeah

38:07Jalen Brunson:I knew I threw that train a little too far I knew that I knew that well and you were like so excited right I was like right before I got in the ring, I was like, just don't push on your hand. Because I was like five weeks out of surgery. Yeah, I was like, just don't push on your hand. And I did a little bit, and I don't know if there was an adrenaline rush or anything, but I didn't feel it. So I was like, alright, I'm good. We're good.

38:39Steph McMahon:Yeah, I saw it late night, like went and grabbed it.

38:42Jalen Brunson:Grabbed the chair. Yeah, because you know your team out there.

38:45Steph McMahon:You are. so what's uh you know we did have Tyrese on the pod so you guys are actually friends though right

38:53Jalen Brunson:yeah yeah yeah he's been in the playoffs two straight years though so yeah but that's I got a lot of respect for him and his family for sure yeah no he's great guy great dude yeah but it was fun being in there oh yeah oh yeah I truly like before that moment I didn't know he was a big WWE fan

39:16Steph McMahon:oh really until like we started talking about it

39:20Jalen Brunson:everything came about and then yeah I don't I don't think a lot of now my teammates know but like now my teammates really knew that was a huge WWE fan but yeah since then it kind of like the fandom kind of took off and everyone talks about it I've signed like that card of me and Tyrese like a million times now

39:41Steph McMahon:isn't that cool it's a standoff card and how'd your t-shirt do pretty good yeah

39:46Jalen Brunson:I love it

39:47Steph McMahon:I mean it's pretty cool

39:48Jalen Brunson:I loved it yeah I actually was in Greenwich maybe like a month after walking down the street and the kid had it on

39:58Steph McMahon:that's so cool I'm like hey

40:00Jalen Brunson:it's a nice shirt he's like thanks kept walking didn't even realize but the mom was like oh that's him she's like cool and the kid just kept walking yeah it was really cool seeing that it was really cool seeing that

40:14Steph McMahon:yeah that's super cool so when did your love of WWE start?

40:20Jalen Brunson:I think I was in 5th grade 4th or 5th grade it was in the middle of one of my moves as a kid but

40:32Jalen Brunson:maybe around like 07 so that has to be like 5th grade, 6th grade yeah around 07 is when it really started I knew about it, but that's when it really, really started.

40:43Steph McMahon:So, and Undertaker was one of your favorites?

40:46Jalen Brunson:Undertaker. Jeff Hardy, obviously. Triple H, obviously, yeah, too, but. Everybody's favorite. Not just blowing smoke over here, but. He's my favorite. I mean, yeah, honestly, like, Edge, too.

41:04Steph McMahon:Yeah.

41:04Jalen Brunson:Edge, too, yeah.

41:06Steph McMahon:Were you watching when it was the brood or like, no, you're too far past that.

41:11Jalen Brunson:It's too far past that. Okay. But after like when you get into it, you start to do a little history. You do your research. The brood was so fun. Yeah. That was cool. And then when he came out, I don't know how long ago was it, but he had like the skull with the brood intro again. Yeah. That was a cool moment.

41:34Steph McMahon:It was the coolest music. I loved The Brood. Yeah. Yeah. WWE World returns to Las Vegas this April 16th through the 20th, and it's the can't-miss destination during WrestleMania week. WWE World brings the WWE universe closer than ever to the superstars, legends, and iconic moments that define WWE. With immersive exhibits, exclusive merchandise, and experiences you won't find anywhere else. See superstars like Drew McIntyre, Liv Morgan, Jey Uso, Dominic Mysterio, Tiffany Stratton, and many more with even more appearances still to come. Tickets are on sale now at www.world.com. Save 10 % with promo code YOURSTORY10.

42:25Steph McMahon:Big news, WWE and sports fans. the world's number one sports fan festival, Fanatics Fest, is making its return to New York City. Fanatics is bringing you closer to the leagues, teams, superstars, and athletes you love across four action-packed days in July. Meet your favorite WWE superstars, get your hands on exclusive merch, catch live podcasts, and interact with the biggest names in sports. Then fans of the show can get a 10 % discount by using Steph10 at checkout. That's S-T-E-P-H, the number one, the number zero, at checkout.

43:08Jalen Brunson:I'm going to Fanatics Fest this year.

43:09Steph McMahon:Oh, great. We'll see you there.

43:11Jalen Brunson:I have one request.

43:12Steph McMahon:Yes.

43:15Jalen Brunson:Whatever I do to meet Rhea Ripley.

43:16Steph McMahon:Oh, yeah. Can we get that on camera? Are we still recording?

43:22Jalen Brunson:Whatever I do.

43:23Steph McMahon:All right. Absolutely. Rhea's the best.

43:25Jalen Brunson:She is the best.

43:26Steph McMahon:She's the coolest. I mean she's such a good person too

43:29Jalen Brunson:so my wife doesn't watch really that much but we watched Unreal the first season and she's like oh she seems awesome I was like that's okay it's something we can agree on it's something we can agree on

43:40Steph McMahon:I did see a picture of you with Rhea on the shirt

43:43Jalen Brunson:I love that it was my live podcast I wore the shirt I was like I saw it I forget where I saw it I was like I need that and I'm going to wear it for something

43:51Steph McMahon:yeah Rhea is she's awesome she is so cool and she's just a star no matter what she does.

43:58Jalen Brunson:I told someone at Fanatics, whatever day she's there, make sure I'm there that same day.

44:03Steph McMahon:Yeah, we will make this happen. Perfect. Thousand percent. Perfect. We are partners with Fanatics and they have a question for you. If you could replace the Knicks starting lineup with four WWE superstars from any era, who would you want on your team and why?

44:20Jalen Brunson:Since we're in a modern day basketball, I'll put Undertaker at the five. Me at the point guard.

44:31Jalen Brunson:I need like a hmm who's the four on our team now? Josh? Josh is the four on our team? I need someone like Josh kind of like a do-it-all type person

44:46Jalen Brunson:I don't know we'll skip Josh I'm gonna put Batiste at the three because he reminds me of OG for some reason. Kind of quiet people.

45:00Steph McMahon:He's quiet.

45:01Jalen Brunson:Kind of quiet people. Batista at three. I'm going to put Triple H at the four because I'm going to say Josh is kind of do-it-all type of person, but he's always joking around more times than not. So I'm thinking of DX, Triple H. So I'm going to put him at the four. At the two for McHale, there's no one really built like McHale in the WWE because McHale's built like that light pole.

45:36So I'm going to say a person who hasn't missed the game.

45:46Jalen Brunson:He'd be Roman.

45:48Steph McMahon:Oh, all right.

45:49Jalen Brunson:Roman number two, considering how consecutive he was championship. McHale's played in so many consecutive games. Roman. I'm loving the logic behind everything.

46:00Steph McMahon:It's very thorough. Yes. Yes. Appreciate that. If you had to pick a superstar that you think is the most like you, who would it be?

46:13Jalen Brunson:I don't know. That's tough. That's tough. I feel like there's so many personalities. and I feel like my personality is kind of more off camera than it is on camera like when I'm it's like I'm very stoic on the court and I don't really try and show my emotion

46:37Jalen Brunson:I don't know

46:38Steph McMahon:how about Kurt Angle

46:40Jalen Brunson:wow yeah I can see that hey Joe that's a good one That's probably a better question for you guys. Sometimes I think, how am I as a person?

46:54Steph McMahon:Well, you were doing the positions and who would be what because of...

46:58Jalen Brunson:Yeah, but when I think about myself, I'm like, ah. Yeah, it's a hard one to yourself. It's a hard one to yourself. But that's a good one. That's a really good one. All right. I like that. I like that.

47:06Steph McMahon:What role did wrestling play in your life? Was it like a constant while you're doing all this moving around? Did you try moves on your sister? She's laughing. you asked the question

47:19Jalen Brunson:I felt the energy yeah I was jumping off the couches onto like

47:26Steph McMahon:doing any Jeff Hardy move no swans on though

47:30Jalen Brunson:oh we were doing a couple swans no no don't try I didn't do that to her I don't think I did that did he I put the belt on the fan

47:48Steph McMahon:that's pretty creative it is creative yeah yeah

47:55Jalen Brunson:that was always a go to actually

47:56Steph McMahon:really but you didn't it didn't go right no no okay because that I mean that's dangerous

48:03Jalen Brunson:I read it don't try it okay I'm just saying

48:07Steph McMahon:I didn't listen but I read it

48:09Jalen Brunson:set up a letter didn't hurt anybody didn't get hurt

48:14Steph McMahon:that's good that's good

48:15Jalen Brunson:I wouldn't I would not try that stuff at home guys yeah I just want to tell the camera no that's

48:21Steph McMahon:yeah I already did that as soon as you said that there's a disclaimer flashing right now yes we had a guest last week Royce and he was talking about eating Vic's Vaporub that his grandmother would have him eat a little bit of Vic's Vaporub when they were sick hot toddy vapor rub and hot toddy he was five and she would give him a hot toddy. A little scoop of Vicks Faber Rub. I mean, so that was an immediate don't do this, but it became like a funny thing, but yeah, I can't write, like, what on earth is in there that you would ingest it?

48:58Jalen Brunson:When I put Vicks right here, it lights you up. Can you imagine eating it?

49:04Steph McMahon:I mean, I guess it cures what ails you, but I am not condoning that. I tried it. Yeah, right. At the time my kids were sick so I was like I'll take anything That was wild advice Yeah that was a big don't try this at home one

49:20Jalen Brunson:Don't worry about it I'm not trying that I'm not trying that

49:24Steph McMahon:What was like one of your favorite WWE moments that you remember either going to or watching or something that you would reenact a lot like storyline wise character wise anything

49:38Jalen Brunson:One of my favorites, John Cena's Return of the Garden. Was that 08? For the Rumble? Yes. Yeah. That first live event was a live event in Richmond, Virginia. It was during Undertaker and Edge's kind of feud. I'm pretty sure Vicky was involved in that too. Somehow, someway. But that was my first ever event. I forget where we were sitting we were sitting kind of up but I remember I remember it like it was like it was yesterday like it was it was so cool like me and my friends we watched it was whenever it was like a pay-per-view we all watched at Delato's house we all watched at their house and then and then once we came close by like we went like it was like it was really cool for me like it was something that like I was always going to like event like basketball games like right I'm always getting to go behind the scenes I'm getting to go see this like it's I'm like seeing like the anticipation of everything something new was like so cool to me and um it was a totally different experience totally different adrenaline rush it was just really really exciting but yeah I remember that like it was yesterday for sure got back super late got back super cause we were living in Charlottesville at the time so it was like an hour drive and and were you

51:05Steph McMahon:like geeked on the way home or did you sleep in the car i probably passed out but i was on the

51:10Jalen Brunson:way there i was yeah i probably passed but it was it was awesome it was i think once i went to like

51:19Steph McMahon:a live event i was like yeah this is dope hooked for life yeah this is some dope stuff there's nothing like that energy yeah you know and everybody's super connected by it it's like you can't help but get caught up in it yeah you know it's just it's fun there's nothing like it

51:34Jalen Brunson:Yeah, it was unbelievable. I was a fan and that got me really into it.

51:40Steph McMahon:Yeah, because I think there's something more intimate about it. And I think it's really special for fans and talent. Plus you can goof off, you can try different things.

51:54Jalen Brunson:Yeah, yeah.

51:54Steph McMahon:But yeah, there's nothing like those live events for moments like that.

52:00Jalen Brunson:Right. The entrances are by far one of my favorites.

52:03Steph McMahon:Yeah?

52:03Jalen Brunson:Yeah. the entrances are I think the coolest thing

52:08Steph McMahon:who's the coolest

52:14Jalen Brunson:you can't say the coolest there's a lot there's many that's true okay so what like some of the coolest

52:19Steph McMahon:that you like

52:20Jalen Brunson:obviously Undertaker

52:21Steph McMahon:he's I mean all time number one for me I remember when

52:26Jalen Brunson:when Batista when he came out with the machine gun I thought that was I thought that was awesome Edge when a long time early 2000s-ish when I watched it again Jeff would come out with the black light and he had the paint on him I thought that was the coolest thing ever

52:47Steph McMahon:What about Jey Uso?

52:49Jalen Brunson:Honestly, I think it's the coolest thing

52:51Steph McMahon:Right now it is

52:52Jalen Brunson:When he runs it back

52:56Steph McMahon:And all the kids that get into it

52:59Jalen Brunson:Yeah There's some kids that look like like when he's like walking down like the aisles and he's doing it there's some kids that are doing

53:07Steph McMahon:it or just like staring in the light i like when he takes someone else's kid for a little bit well he said sometimes people just hand him their kids and he's like okay it's like taking the kids hands

53:19Jalen Brunson:so cute yeah so cute he he's he's doing something with that i think it's really cool what could you do with that i could do it i so we did a live podcast and i like was like figuring out how i could come out with like a cool entrance like some type of and it would it probably would have cost a little bit too much money but um sponsor right i might we'll throw it on the table now

53:45Steph McMahon:i think you should i mean especially now that we're talking about it for sure i tried like i

53:49Jalen Brunson:was like can we get like some pyros can we get some smoke yeah something small you know something small yeah he's a sparkler yeah yeah i would puff of smoke i don't like i think about it i'm like it sounds really cool but like me like i'm just i'm too like like mellow like i don't feel like i could i would have to change who i am to like do that i don't know it's all in the look it's the

54:18Steph McMahon:intensity you'd have to have like your competition game face on absolutely yeah you'd have to have that.

54:24Jalen Brunson:Absolutely. Now I'm going to start thinking about it now for next whatever, August, September. We'll get it done. Alright.

54:32Steph McMahon:Alright. I know a guy might want to help you. Perfect. Happens to be your favorite. Yeah. We'll see. So, I'm curious and I think you might not be willing to describe this, but the three points, like, why do you, how did you start doing that? I mean, clearly it's on your merch, right? Yeah.

54:57Jalen Brunson:So now we actually sell it for our foundation. Right. So all the proceeds go to - To your foundation. To our foundation. But I truly don't know -

55:06Steph McMahon:How it started.

55:07Jalen Brunson:How it started. Huh. So about four or five years ago in Dallas, I kind of did something like it. But it was like, I don't know why I did it. I just did something. I kind of did it. So then my first year in New York, I didn't really do it. until like playoffs-ish and like i remember what i did i made a shot and then right i there's a camera right there and i did it and i caught it and it slow-moed it and it kind of went kind of went viral um then i was actually what's it mean what's it mean i'm like it means i made a three-pointer like i don't know like i don't know exactly what it means like it just it just happened and then like when i like when i see people like yo do the celebration I'm like, no, you can do it.

55:51Jalen Brunson:I'm not going to do it.

55:53Steph McMahon:I do it when I...

55:55Jalen Brunson:Do it when I make a shot. Right. But it came out of nowhere. And now it's like... Your thing. Yeah. Your gimmick. My gimmick.

56:03Steph McMahon:Yeah, it's good. It's like the, you can't see me. Yeah, it's like, it's literally... It's your yeet.

56:12Jalen Brunson:It just, it came out of nowhere. And then we capitalized on it.

56:16Steph McMahon:That's super cool.

56:17Jalen Brunson:Yeah.

56:17Steph McMahon:That's kind of how it happens. you never know what's gonna click when it's organic is usually when it's the best

56:25Jalen Brunson:I feel bad when people ask I don't have an answer it just came out of nowhere no that means something it truly doesn't

56:32Steph McMahon:it's like three points to the dome or something so that's mellow oh so that's what you were saying yeah that's mellow

56:41Jalen Brunson:there's a lot of good Nick celebrations yeah there's a lot of good ones you have the discount double check from Steve Novak. You have Mellow. You have J.R. Smith. Like, I don't know what you call it, but like he does something. So who started it? Who was like the first three-point celebration? We're looking it up now. It might have been Mellow. J.R. Smith. It might have been. He did like, there's people who do like a celebration every once in a while. He did it 95 % of the time when he hit the three. And that's how celebrations kind of started. And then in college, we were not doing the celebration.

57:23Jalen Brunson:Coach Wright was not having it. Oh, he didn't like that. Yeah. I remember Russell Westbrook did like a, he would hit a three. He would go like, kind of like clock. Oh, like a, yeah. That's cool. I used to do that in high school and then I couldn't do anything in college, but brought it back.

57:42Steph McMahon:Don't know what it means, but it's.

57:44Jalen Brunson:Don't know what it means, but hey, it's. It works. It works.

57:47Steph McMahon:it works what else were some of the values that coach right instilled in you

57:56Jalen Brunson:a lot like he was he was very big on like being professional um looking someone in the eye give him a good handshake uh he when you first on campus he buys you like your first suit really suit shoes um tie all that belt gets you get you fitted for everything um so obviously he's a great coach coach right coach jay right is what everyone sees we see gerald right he hates and he likes that joke but we see the we see the real coach right and um he made practices harder than the games so he was always trying to do something that was putting you outside your comfort zone so when it came time to actually do what you have to do, it was easier.

58:45Jalen Brunson:And so that was on and off the court. So that was my biggest takeaway from him, just kind of over-preparing yourself to make sure that you're ready. You're not just going to get ready for kind of the bare minimum.

58:58Steph McMahon:Right, over-preparing.

59:00Jalen Brunson:Yeah.

59:01Steph McMahon:And do you apply that philosophy in life? Yeah, sometimes. Well, in school you didn't because you didn't study.

59:11Jalen Brunson:That sounds about right. That sounds about right.

59:14Steph McMahon:How'd you graduate in three years?

59:17Jalen Brunson:Well, we had to be there in the summertime anyway. Okay, so you just took summer. Took summer classes. Usually people took one. I took as much as I can. After my sophomore year, I played really well, and I thought, hey, I was going to be ready to leave the NBA. And then we had a conversation with my parents, and they were like, you're not leaving. You're finishing. My dad said I wasn't good enough, and my mom said, I want your degree anyway. So I was like, okay, well, I guess I'm staying. Coach Wright was like, this is one of the easiest conversations I've ever had.

59:48Steph McMahon:And you played in the championship game your freshman year.

59:52Jalen Brunson:Freshman and junior year.

59:53Steph McMahon:And junior.

59:53Jalen Brunson:Yeah. Yeah, I graduated and I was like, I won the second national championship play of the year. I'm like, there's really nothing else. I could help myself get into a better draft position. so yeah it was one of the best experiences of my life because

1:00:13Steph McMahon:because why

1:00:15Jalen Brunson:I was close to home I was about 45 minutes from where I grew up most of my childhood

1:00:25Jalen Brunson:obviously winning cures all everything yeah it's a good feeling good feeling winning cures everything and they make great relationships when I when I committed to Villanova I told myself I would it wasn't just like a four-year thing it was like a 40-year thing 40-year thing like I wanted a lifetime relationship and I have that like I still talk to obviously all my teammates some of my teammates I have now still um Coach Wright talked to him like a week or two ago um there are plenty of people who on campus I still talk to um yeah it's like lifelong relationships I have.

1:01:01Steph McMahon:It's pretty remarkable the people around you that you keep obviously family people you trust but your middle school coaches your high school coaches your college coaches your dad and even the president of the Knicks yeah is your former agent yeah that that that's

1:01:21Jalen Brunson:probably the the longest relationship i have out of all of them because my dad so leon rose the president now uh his first client ever was my father really yeah and so my dad was playing in australia when i was born and back so it's i'm pretty sure it's winter time when it's summertime for us in australia so their season was in our summer i was born in august and um august what 31st okay yeah August 31st my daughter's

1:01:54Steph McMahon:August 24th okay

1:01:56Jalen Brunson:August 31st and Leon saw me before my dad did it because my dad was in Australia

1:02:02Steph McMahon:wow and so

1:02:04Jalen Brunson:that relationship runs really deep and obviously once I left he was my agent and then two years three years in he went to be the president of the Knicks and then yeah now we're back together

1:02:19Steph McMahon:it's pretty cool yeah

1:02:21Jalen Brunson:And now his son's my agent.

1:02:22Steph McMahon:Oh, really?

1:02:23Jalen Brunson:Yeah.

1:02:24Steph McMahon:Wow. You do keep it tight. Yeah, I try.

1:02:27Jalen Brunson:I try. I try. Keep the circle close. Yeah.

1:02:32Steph McMahon:And it's worked out well for you.

1:02:34Jalen Brunson:Yeah. I mean, I enjoy it.

1:02:36Steph McMahon:Has there ever been somebody intrude in the circle that you had to kick out?

1:02:42Jalen Brunson:Not really. I don't think maybe knocking at the circle's door would never really let in.

1:02:48Steph McMahon:They tried.

1:02:49Jalen Brunson:They tried. Yeah.

1:02:51Steph McMahon:didn't work

1:02:52Jalen Brunson:yeah not that I think about it no no one's really been like in the trouble they had to kick out no there's too many layers

1:03:04Steph McMahon:it's too deep they can't get the access yeah no what do you think about Leon becoming the president like going from so Nick Khan was at CAA and then he ultimately came to WWE right it's co-ceo and now he's president again wwe tko he's making all these incredible moves as as a businessman um what do you think there is about being an agent why does that ultimately make you a success assuming that you believe that he is a success yeah um in the role

1:03:42Jalen Brunson:yeah obviously relationships i think relationships are i think are a big part of it um I also think like an organization like this and a city like this, it's like, it's kind of a no brainer. Like who wouldn't want to work for like the Knicks or another story franchise like LA or like San Francisco or Golden State. Like you get in one of those positions, one of those teams, like it's just like, it's a, it's a really big opportunity. So once like I wasn't mad, I was just like, it's a great opportunity for him. And it's something he really wanted to do. And so, yeah, I don't blame him at all. And I enjoy being able to see him all the time.

1:04:28Jalen Brunson:Obviously, we talk a lot of basketball. It's been a great experience for me. Obviously, I want to win. What can make this experience 10 times better? If we end it and we win a championship. Obviously, that's our number one goal above all.

1:04:43Steph McMahon:The 73 was the last one? Is that right?

1:04:45Jalen Brunson:Yeah.

1:04:46Steph McMahon:She went there.

1:04:47Jalen Brunson:It was a long time.

1:04:48Steph McMahon:Well, no, I went there because it's a big opportunity.

1:04:51Jalen Brunson:Yeah. Yeah. No pressure. No pressure. Yeah. No pressure at all. Yeah. It's been a long time, but I feel like we have an opportunity. Yeah. We do.

1:05:05Steph McMahon:And how important is the team?

1:05:09Jalen Brunson:Oh, I mean, very important. Like, we, I think we've, this season's been, it's been weird because we've had highs, we've had lows, and we're creeping back up, going back on the high again. Like, I feel like we're getting better late in the season. Like, you never want to be, you never want to be, like, a finished product at any point in the season. Like, you want to continue to find ways to get better. I think we started the season, first couple weeks, eh. But then we got really good. uh won the in-season tournament and then um kind of since then it was it was like rocky it went downhill and then um after january we just woke up and um kind of finished going through the break strong playing well so hopefully we can continue that but it's important for us to kind of just get everything else out of the way like have tunnel vision right have tunnel vision and as a

1:06:07Steph McMahon:team are you able to help each other mitigate distractions yes but there always will be distractions yeah always and that goes back to what you can control and what you can't control

1:06:19Jalen Brunson:exactly exactly control what you can control but there will always be distractions it's all about like how can you find a way to limit it how can you control what you can control and not let things seep into your mind or whatever like you just there are always distractions always mostly unexpected yeah it's it's yeah it's mostly unexpected it could be like during media and they ask you a question you you say it one way you don't mean it that way and it's blown all proportion and then now you're they're asking another player hey what do you think about this person's comments like how do you feel about that and they're reacting to the way it's positioned yeah right and then now you're going back like hey like what was actually like like i said there's always going to be something to kind of throw you off your game.

1:07:06Steph McMahon:Do you feel like the media and not like media in general, but does the media try to create controversy within the team? I don't think they

1:07:18Jalen Brunson:that's a great question. Sometimes they can. I don't know if they're

1:07:23Steph McMahon:That's a goal. I think they're trying to

1:07:30Jalen Brunson:try and get something done to put maybe their name out there and kind of see like where a story can take them but I don't know I feel like the media is it can go any other way

1:07:46Steph McMahon:do they train you guys at all not to eat during press conferences

1:07:55Jalen Brunson:they should have to say it now because we have one guy on our team that eats during every press conference

1:08:01Steph McMahon:to the point where I don't even

1:08:02Jalen Brunson:I'm not in the press conference with him anymore.

1:08:05Steph McMahon:The clips of him sneaking the pizza box and you're just like...

1:08:11Jalen Brunson:The thing is, he's eating. Some of the times...

1:08:15Steph McMahon:He's just really hungry.

1:08:17Jalen Brunson:I mean, I get it. We just played a game. Just wait five minutes. Wait five minutes.

1:08:22Steph McMahon:Once you crack that box... You're doing the media right now. You're stirring up controversy.

1:08:27Jalen Brunson:It's always controversy between me and him. It's always controversy between me and him. yeah it's always controversial

1:08:33Steph McMahon:it happens

1:08:36Jalen Brunson:yeah he I don't even know what to say

1:08:40Steph McMahon:but what does he say when you say you can't wait five minutes

1:08:44Jalen Brunson:he's just like I'm hungry I get it when we're in the media room sometimes it's echoed it's like speakers for people in the back to maybe hear what we're saying you just hear him chewing

1:08:59Steph McMahon:right in the microphone he opens the pizza box the whole room can smell it everyone sees it

1:09:06Jalen Brunson:you never get hungry just smelling that pizza oh yeah but you can wait

1:09:11Steph McMahon:he was trained he just

1:09:14Jalen Brunson:find a way to piss me off

1:09:16Steph McMahon:it was the clip he said he eats a snack in bed and he was like there was like a twizzler stuck in his wife's leg you made the greatest face I was like

1:09:27Jalen Brunson:I'm pretty sure I called Shannon after that, his wife. I was like, you guys are disgusting. I'm pretty sure I called her. Whenever we talk about something, I'm just like, what? I call her. I'm like, is this true? Whatever. She's like, yeah, probably. I was like, you guys are gross. You guys are just gross. They're actually clean. They're clean people. Going to the house, their house is always clean. It's always clean. Let me put that out there.

1:09:56Steph McMahon:I'm just over here. Do you ever get worried you're going to say something on the pod that's going to be taken out of context? Yep. Yeah, me too. Yep. Because you try to let your guard down. That's her job to make sure she can't.

1:10:08Jalen Brunson:She's paying a lot of attention. We probably would have been canceled by now.

1:10:13Steph McMahon:You think? Really? Well, he would have been. The cutting room floor? Yeah, it's good.

1:10:17Jalen Brunson:He would have been canceled. I would have been guilty by association. Yeah.

1:10:24Steph McMahon:That's a real thing, too. Yeah.

1:10:26Jalen Brunson:Yeah. Yeah.

1:10:28Steph McMahon:can we edit that part out remember when we said this it's like the 10-30 text I guess

1:10:36Jalen Brunson:we'll be talking and then cut it we're gonna have to cut this and then for the next two minutes we're just saying some outrageous shit

1:10:45Steph McMahon:which is all the stuff that people would really want to hear

1:10:49Jalen Brunson:we thought about doing a roommates after dark

1:10:52Steph McMahon:I mean even the name is good Erica's face

1:10:55Jalen Brunson:but we will have to wait till we retire

1:10:58Steph McMahon:yeah alright that's fair that's fair gives us all something to look forward to yeah

1:11:03Jalen Brunson:hopefully a long time yeah hopefully a long time I don't know about him he talks about retiring soon but I don't want to retire anytime soon yeah got a lot of work to do

1:11:14Steph McMahon:franchise player yeah

1:11:16Jalen Brunson:your words not mine

1:11:20Steph McMahon:what happened here you have a little scar scar yeah is there a good story

1:11:26Jalen Brunson:um it's not jumping off a couch story

1:11:30Steph McMahon:I know I was waiting for that

1:11:31Jalen Brunson:it's um I think it was about I think three or four and I was at my grandmother's house and for some reason I kind of forgot that her bed was like right right when you turn the corner in her room like the bed was right there I wasn't paying attention I ran in and just it was like a slay bed type of thing and I hit the corner and busted yourself open I've probably had about 40 to 50 stitches in my head. Really? In my life, yeah.

1:11:59Steph McMahon:Wow. All from your grandmother's bed?

1:12:02Jalen Brunson:Grandmother's bed. I have one right here. It's a little one because a plastic surgeon did it. Because if they didn't, it would probably be.

1:12:09Steph McMahon:These are his Jeff Hardy days. Yeah, what happened there?

1:12:12Jalen Brunson:My other grandmother's, my Nana's house. Really?

1:12:15Steph McMahon:It was the grandmother's.

1:12:16Jalen Brunson:Remember the old kind of TV, square TVs? So there was an older one that wasn't being used. I was in the corner. I was 18 months old. You know how you're wobbling. Oh, you're little. Yeah, I tripped and fell in 25 right across the front. That's awful. I think two in the back from when I hit back. Two back here.

1:12:38Steph McMahon:The same bump?

1:12:40Jalen Brunson:Same bump. Boom, boom.

1:12:42Steph McMahon:Boom, and then you went back. And then I have one on the side of my head from this guy right here.

1:12:48Jalen Brunson:We were warming up for a game. and pre-game pre-game it was like he kind of just like got a rebound like elbow and being we're doing layup lines and like i was like what the what are you doing it wasn't didn't really hurt but he hit me and then like we're still going through everyone's like kind of staring at me i'm like what like apparently blood was just like oh whatever he got you just right yeah so i had i had to get stitches right here i don't know if there's actual stitches or like liquid stitches but it was something needed to be done i missed that game oh you did you wound up missing the game yeah I missed the game.

1:13:21Jalen Brunson:Missed the game. How'd the team do?

1:13:23Steph McMahon:I know. I was going to say. How's that season? Hopefully. No, they won. They won.

1:13:27Jalen Brunson:They won. I had stitches right under here. Elbows from playing. Yeah. I have a. I got twice right here. I like hit my chin on the floor. I had stitches. Like four or five. Like twice.

1:13:43Steph McMahon:Randomly hit your chin on the floor. No, in the game. Oh, oh, oh. In the game. In the game. Just go home. In the game.

1:13:50Jalen Brunson:that might be it

1:13:52Steph McMahon:that's a fair amount

1:13:53Jalen Brunson:I'm probably missing something

1:13:55Steph McMahon:mostly all head and face areas yeah

1:13:59Jalen Brunson:injuries

1:14:02Steph McMahon:just bashing about the grandmother's house I'm just feeling for was your grandmother watching you

1:14:11Jalen Brunson:no

1:14:13Steph McMahon:I'm feeling for whoever actually

1:14:15Jalen Brunson:a lot of families was there and um my my aunt was at the hospital with me and my mother was there too my mother was calm and collected like she was mothers are yeah calm and collected my aunt was crying and screaming like oh yeah so the doctor apparently goes up to like your son's gonna be okay and my mom's like

1:14:37Steph McMahon:that's not that's not her son it's me it's me but yeah it was just her fault

1:14:47Jalen Brunson:probably we'll blame her we'll blame her

1:14:51Steph McMahon:and what are some of the most important lessons that you want to teach your baby girl

1:15:02Jalen Brunson:obviously hard work

1:15:07Jalen Brunson:never being a follower always being a leader that's what my parents told me just be a leader make your own decisions be be comfortable in your own skin be comfortable being who you are like you don't have to change who you are for anybody

1:15:26Jalen Brunson:just be the best version of yourself yeah those are good ones whatever she like wants to do I'll help push her in that if she wants that but obviously I hope she plays a little bit of basketball hopefully but um yeah i'm i just wanted to be her own person to be a leader she's cutie pie she's adorable yes

1:15:50Steph McMahon:all the images of you guys walking yeah her holding your hand she's starting to hold my hand a lot more now she like when she's in a place where she doesn't know where she's at

1:16:00Jalen Brunson:she'll hold my hand i'm like hey like if we're somewhere she knows she's like she's like i got it see she's a leader yeah yeah she's uh she's talking a lot more now um she's she's understanding who people are like we'll say like where's mama like where's mommy and she'll point at mommy where's data she'll point at data um or data um yeah she's she's trying to understand a little more it's really cute to see like her like learning growing up right yeah how their little minds work

1:16:32Steph McMahon:yeah it's it's the best i was um my i have my oldest daughter is a sophomore in college and my middle daughter is about to go to college and um my youngest is going to be 16 and so for my daughter is about to go to college i've been going through all these pictures because i'm putting together collages or whatever and man i am a mess because i'm looking at these videos of them when they were little and they're talking and they're little voices and you can hardly understand what they're saying but man they're talking. And it's like it is the best and everybody says it goes too fast and I'm now one of those like older ladies saying that.

1:17:16Steph McMahon:But it's true.

1:17:17Jalen Brunson:It just does. The first 19 months, whatever it is, year and a half, it's gone really fast. Yeah. In the moment it feels slow but like you're like.

1:17:27Steph McMahon:Right, well because a lot's happening. Yeah.

1:17:28Jalen Brunson:And then you're like, damn, that was that long ago? Right.

1:17:32Steph McMahon:Days are long, years are short. That's right. The days are long and the years are short. But the older they get, the faster it goes.

1:17:42Steph McMahon:But it's the best. And every stage really is the best. Until they get ready to leave. I have no good advice for it for when they go to school. It's just awful. I have a long way to go for that.

1:17:58Jalen Brunson:yeah you do you have a long way to go

1:18:00Steph McMahon:and so do you yes

1:18:02Jalen Brunson:I was ready sorry go ahead

1:18:03Steph McMahon:no no I was just going to say it's helpful and not at the same time like she's got her girls are older my kids are 6 and 2 so I'm like in some tough moments especially with the 2 year old and I hear like them leaving and I'm like oh I need to slow down and like enjoy these tough but like beautiful days because before you know it I'm not ready they're leaving the nest

1:18:27Jalen Brunson:we um we had we found like old videos me and my sister found like old videos of us yeah and so we kind of like she digitized them or whatever the word is for it and then um it made me go get like a camcorder right oh yeah so i was like all right i'm gonna start like recording stuff and like having stuff and just so like we can look back on it like down the line yeah um since i record a lot but since then I have no idea where the camcorder is that's the thing

1:18:55Steph McMahon:but your phone is pretty accurate

1:18:58Jalen Brunson:yeah but like the nostalgia of like the actual camcorder and like the grainy footage and stuff like that you can put an effect on it

1:19:07Steph McMahon:but I get the notion I get the notion

1:19:10Jalen Brunson:but can I recommend

1:19:13Steph McMahon:download it now like all of the stuff that you've already shot because

1:19:18Jalen Brunson:I gotta find the camcorder first That's the thing.

1:19:20Steph McMahon:So like I had things on multiple different devices because, you know, three kids throughout all this time. Yeah. And we were missing two years and I couldn't find them. And we finally found this computer that was like in the corner and wasn't charged and wouldn't charge, finally did. And now we've got it and we've got everything in one place. But it's like having lived through that brief period of anxiety, I recommend you find that camcorder.

1:19:48Jalen Brunson:Find a camcorder, download it. tonight do it tonight yeah well this has been so cool thank you no this is awesome i appreciate like i don't think i understand how fast i said yes but like uh so grateful yeah you know thank

1:20:02Steph McMahon:you and especially you have a game tomorrow and everything you've got going on like to to take the time to come on our pod that just means so much thank you thanks for having me this is awesome i appreciate it we wish you all the luck and success and all great things for you and your team professionally but for your family you know it sounds like you just you have all the right things around you you know and you have such a good heart and such a good head on your shoulders so just anything we can ever do you know.

1:20:35Jalen Brunson:You guys would come to the garden yeah

1:20:39Steph McMahon:absolutely you know that was at one time known as the house my grandfather built

1:20:43Jalen Brunson:I believe it.

1:20:44Steph McMahon:Because he had the most consecutive sellouts at that time. No big deal I had nothing to do with it it's a cool thing to throw out I'll take it appreciate you guys

1:20:56Jalen Brunson:thank you so much

1:20:57Steph McMahon:thank you