Four of Jalen Brunson’s NBA title-winning colleagues were at the “Saturday Night Live” show.
He was the host of “Saturday Night Live” this past Saturday. Four of his NBA champions, Karl-Anthony Towns, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby and Josh Hart, attended the show with him, as he made his monologue as the host of the NBC comedy series in its 52nd season.
During his opening monologue, Brunson joked about how he isn’t going to sing in the show and that his rival on ESPN, Stephen A. Smith who is a Knicks fan, owes him an apology for his criticisms on him, including his anticipation of playing back at the home court of the Knicks.
“The exact spot where Taylor and Travis got married,” Brunson said, referring to the summer wedding of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce at the team’s arena.
However, the best responses came from Towns, Bridges, Anunoby, and Hart, who all questioned Brunson during the monologue, per ESPN.
Bridges asked Brunson if his arms were long, but unfortunately said that Brunson would never take flight. Anunoby, who received thunderous applause, questioned Brunson if he remembered making a shot towards the end of Game 4 in the NBA Finals against San Antonio — where the Knicks triumphed in five games. The shot at the end of Game 4 that Anunoby referred to was actually a tip-in — from Brunson’s miss — which essentially sealed the victory for the Knicks.
“That was awesome,” Anunoby said.
Hart then posed a question to Brunson regarding how his New York partner managed to leave $113 million in the bargain when signing with the Knicks. In response, Brunson asked Art about why Hart touched Brunson’s backside when the Knicks lifted the NBA Cup last year.
Then, Brunson took his teammates to the stage where they received another loud cheer from the audience.
Brunson thus became the first active NBA player hosting the show after LeBron James (who was with the Cleveland Cavaliers then) in 2007 and the first professional athlete in the role after Kelce, a tight end at the Kansas City Chiefs, in 2023.
The other NBA players who have hosted the program, aside from Brunson and James, include Michael Jordan in 1991, Charles Barkley (four times, including one when he was still an active player in 1993) and Bill Russell in 1979. Russell’s turn came 10 years after his retirement as a player.
Brunson, Jordan, Barkley and James have all hosted season premieres of “SNL.” And Brunson vowed to come through strong towards the end, just as he did during crucial moments in the Knicks’ games in the championship series against the Spurs in June.
