Jalen Brunson

Once a slept-on second-round draft pick despite having accumulated a couple of national titles and claiming POY at Villanova, JALEN BRUNSON is now the second-leading scorer for the Dallas Mavericks and about to be a highly sought-after name in the free agency market this summer. That’s what staying true to the grind will do for you.

W O R D S D E Y S C H A S M I T H / / P O R T R A I T S J O N A T H A N L E W I S

T ’ S T H E N I G H T B E F O R E

the Mavs play the Nets, and Jalen

IBrunson is sitting in a dimly lit room in Manhattan. It’s mid-March, and the 6-1 guard is having the best season of his life, averaging career highs in every major category. Yet, when asked about it, he says that he doesn’t think about it. He’s too focused on the next goal.

“I don’t think about [how] I’m averaging career-highs. I know people always say it. How ’s it feel? I’m just trying to be me. Obviously, what I’m doing is good, but the best thing is I know I could be doing better. That’s the part that keeps me hungry. ”

What exactly does better look like for the Mavericks’ second-leading scorer?

“I’ll know when I get there, ” he says.

Until then, it’s all about staying prepared. There’s nothing flashy about the grind, or about Jalen. At his SLAM photo shoot, he keeps it simple, rocking a few Nike sweatsuits. In between takes, he chops it up about how he’s a big movie guy and dishes a few takes about The Batman. When the question about where his confidence comes from is asked, there’s no ego to his answer. “My work ethic, ” he says. Simple.

His father Rick pushed and demanded it out of him. Jalen watched his dad constantly work during his own 12-year pro career. He trained relentlessly, too. Jalen says Rick would run in the summer heat wearing a sweat jacket, and at 7 years old, he’d be there, riding his bike alongside him. “I didn’t really understand it, I thought it was just what he did, ” he says. “Seeing what people do now in their free time, versus what my dad did, I’m like, Damn. He did all that and he was in the League for nine years, overseas, CBA and never had a guaranteed contract. ”

Jalen’s become committed to his routine, which has pretty much stayed the same, whether he’s starting or playing fewer minutes: shooting the night before games, getting in his conditioning, eating at certain times, taking a nap (if time permits) and dialing in on the task ahead.

Brunson has always been routine-oriented. He grew up watching how Rick would get ready for games, and at 2 years old, would mimic him. According to his mother Sandra, there’d be a “full-court” set up in his grandparents kitchen and living room with Knicks stickers taped on their hardwood floors [Rick played for the Knicks for a couple of years at that time— Ed.]. A young Jalen would pack all his gear into a duffel bag, put on a blazer or vest and say, Mom, I’m going to my game.

He would then walk through the house, put on his sneakers and do exactly what he does now in the L—go to work. He’d copy moves he saw players do, including Rick’s then-Knicks teammate Allan Houston.

“I just like knowing what I’m getting myself into. I’m one of those guys that if you find a good restaurant, I could eat at that restaurant every time we go out, ” Brunson says of being routine-oriented. “I think that gets your mind right. Once you ’re in that zone of doing what you got to do to be ready for the game, it takes the thought process out of worrying about other things. If I’m in that routine, I’m not thinking about anything. My mind is just free. ”

It was Sandra who taught him the art of goal-setting. While Rick was working in Charlotte as an assistant with the Bobcats, the family lived in Illinois. Sandra wanted Jalen and his sister to have a way to focus on themselves and their own goals, rather than on why their father wasn’t there or how long he’d be gone. School began and Sandra would ask, What are your goals this year? What do you want to do? Jalen started getting creative and would draft them on the computer and hang them around his room. “I told him, It’s great to have goals and dreams but let’s stick with realistic goals. Let’s not think about down the road, like, Oh, I want to be in the NBA. That’s great. But let’s think about 10th grade. What do you want to do?”

That year, Brunson led Stevenson HS to a state championship, and by his junior year, the five-star recruit was averaging 26.1 ppg and was named Illinois Gatorade Player of the Year. When Villanova coach Jay Wright came for a visit, Sandra recalls him noticing the goals taped up.

In Brunson’s junior year at Villanova, he typed up his academic and athletic goals. He added on-court images of himself and then wrote his goals in an all-caps, bold white font. On the left were his academic goals: graduating in the summer of 2018 and making the All-American, Big East and Big Five Academic teams. On the right were his athletic goals, specific and performance-based: First-Team All American, All-Big East, All-Big Five, as well as conference regular season and tournament champions, and winning a Championship.

He then sent Sandra the picture of those goals on the wall to prove to her that he actually did them. She still has the picture on her phone, which she shared with SLAM via text mid-interview.

“That’s how I measure myself. I see these goals, and [how] I’m going to get there, ” Brunson explains. “They ’re mostly short term. I have long term goals of course, but that’s how I measure myself. ”

Preparedness, consistency and staying true to himself and the work have become the foundational fabrics to his approach. It’s how he solidified himself as one of the best guards ever to suit up for the Wildcats, but even then, Brunson wanted more. “I was a version of myself, I guess I technically didn’t know I had. I always knew I was good, playing the post, but we really used it as a weapon. I would say that where I was then was a perfect place, because I knew that I had accomplished a lot, I did a lot [and] was successful, but I knew I had so much more room to grow. ”

When he came into the L as a rookie, Brunson found himself having to work his way up. He averaged just 9.3 points in 21.8 minutes of action. “That’s something I’ ve done at every stage in my career, high school, college and the pros. I have no problem with it, and honestly, it makes me better. It makes me hungry. I’m always trying to find ways to improve. I just knew that whenever I got my opportunity, I was gonna make the most of it. ”

Now in his fourth year, Brunson’s pursuit of consistency has put him in the starting lineup, averaging 16.3 ppg in 61 regular season starts. When the team needed him the most, Brunson more than delivered. During a 10-game stretch in December, when many teammates, including Luka Doncic, were out due to injuries and Covid protocols, he averaged 21 ppg while shooting 51.3 percent from the field.

“That’s when it really clicked. I had some good games in the beginning of the year, but I think that stretch kind of solidified how people view me. My coaches know, my teammates know, and that’s all I really care about, [but] I guess people started to see and take notice. ”

Rather than ride the wave of a good game, or in his case, the best season of his career so far, Brunson says that for him, it’s the standard. “Staying consistent with work, and obviously a little more opportunity helps, [but] I think being able to have [Jason] Kidd as a coach really helped me understand things that I thought I knew. He’s pushed me, he expects the best out of me. I appreciate that, because it doesn’t keep me satisfied. That’s how my dad was, just always wanting more, more, more. ”

As we go to press, Brunson is putting in work in the playoffs. In the first round against the Jazz, he went off for 41 points in Game 2 and then dropped 31 in Game 3. He’s focusing on what he can control, and his family ’s saying, The magic is in the work, often runs through his head. He even wears it on two bracelets.

“You ’ ve got to be consistent with what you ’re putting out there on the court, but most importantly, keep your routine, keep having the same mentality [and] doing the things that have gotten you here. ” S