Family Ties or Unfair Play? The NBA Investigates the Brunson Connection While Knicks Cry Foul

What looked like a show of good faith at first blush may not be so, according to a new report from SNY. The NBA has allegedly launched a new probe into the New York Knicks’ promotion of Rick Brunson, a longtime NBA coach and father of Knicks star Jalen Brunson, investigating whether the new role was an illegal benefit to Jalen. The point guard notably gave the Knicks a massive discount this past offseason when he opted to sign a four-year, $156 million dollar contract, foregoing his eligibility for a potential five-year, $270 million dollar extension after the season concludes. Could this have been tied to Rick’s promotion to lead assistant before the 2024-25 season began, where he assumed the role formerly held by Johnnie Bryant? 

MSG Sports (the Knicks' parent company) came out with a statement before the SNY report was published in which they denied any wrongdoing in the elder Brunson’s promotion. Based on Rick’s career history, they appear to be spot on. The coach (who joined the league in 2007, when Jalen was 11 years old) had previously held roles on Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau’s staff in both Chicago and Minnesota before joining him in New York, making him a seemingly ideal candidate for a lead assistant role. Further, Rick originally came to the Knicks organization in 2022, when his son first joined the team—never drawing a league investigation. Rick’s coaching expertise, familiarity with Thibodeau, and previous seasons with the Knicks all seem to strongly justify MSG’s claim that “[i]t’s offensive that anyone would claim Rick didn’t deserve the promotion.”

The MSG Sports statement also notes that they “see this as more harassment of the Knicks due to our opposition to certain NBA matters.” As SNY’s Ian Begley pointed out, this isn’t the first time the Knicks have clashed with the league. In 2023, the Knicks sued the Toronto Raptors, alleging that a former video coordinator stole various confidential information (including scouting reports and data) when he left New York to join the Raptors. The suit accuses NBA Commissioner Adam Silver of favoring the Raptors owner, Larry Tanenbaum, whom Silver has previously described as a role model in his life. The New York-Toronto dispute carried over onto the women’s side as well, with Knicks owner James Dolan being the lone vote against expansion when the WNBA added a team in Toronto for 2026 (which Tanenbaum will be the majority owner of), expressing frustration to Silver about the W continuing to lose money, and even sending a letter to other owners criticizing the league’s new TV rights deal (which includes the WNBA). This past offseason, the team also used a loophole in the CBA in their trade to acquire Karl Anthony Towns. Evidently, the Knicks have plenty of reasons to believe the NBA may be targeting them unfairly.

Will the NBA somehow find the Rick Brunson promotion to be an illegal benefit to Jalen, punishing the Knicks? If so, what would be the punishment? For starters, it would almost surely be more than the 2025 second round pick the NBA taxed the team with after finding they tampered with the younger Brunson when they signed him in 2022. Brunson left $113 million on the table in his latest deal, and in an era where salary cap aprons seek to restrict teams, any additional flexibility can offer an organization a massive advantage. Thus, it is possible that the Knicks punishment would be far more severe, potentially falling more closely in line with the death penalty that former Commissioner David Stern gave the Timberwolves in 1999. Minnesota signed former number one overall pick Joe Smith to a suspiciously cheap one-year, $1.75 million dollar deal—which was part of an under-the-table plot for the team to acquire his Bird rights after three consecutive one-year deals (ultimately leading to a lucrative new contract for Smith). In response, the league fined the Timberwolves $3.5 million, took away their next five first-round picks, and voided Smith’s contract with the team. 

While the alleged benefit to Jalen is far less valuable (especially given his father’s past coaching history), the NBA could look to make a statement with the Knicks due to their past history of disagreement. On the Knicks side, an aggressive action by the league could result in a lawsuit, especially given Rick’s aforementioned qualifications for his new role and the New York team’s willingness to litigate in order to protect their organizational interests (as evidenced by their litigation with the Raptors). All eyes will be on the outcome of this league probe as fans await a potential action by the Knicks or the NBA.