Jalen Brunson is speaking out on receiving death threats.
The New York Knicks point guard is sharing his experience on the negative messages he's received following New York Giants kicker Graham Gano's recent comments about the DMs he's gotten after fans' bets don't cash. Unfortunately, this has been a shared experience amongst the professional athletes.
“It’s definitely crossed a line a couple of times. Actually, I would say more than a couple of times,” told Sports Illustrated in relation to Gano's recent comments. “They have said some pretty messed up s**t.”
Brunson shared that he's received some “hateful” messages and that while athletes are used to criticism from fans, these messages go beyond snide remarks.
“It’s tough. I really don’t wish that on anybody,” he added. “I don’t really understand why people think it’s alright to press send when s**t is hateful.”
However, Brunson shared that his support system is vital to him ignoring fans who wish to send disturbing messages.
“I try not to let the world see it because people don’t really care about your problems,” he continued. “But when my family is around, I’m allowed to be vulnerable. I have a very close circle that I turn to when I start to get doubts, or I start to get nervous or see stuff like that.”
“The way I was raised, I use that stuff and I try to make it into something positive for me. And that’s a credit to my parents,” he said.
Brunson signed with the Knicks in 2022 and led the franchise to their first conference finals since 2000 during the 2024-2025 season. The Knicks lost to the Indiana Pacers in 2000 and also fell to the franchise again last season in the finals.
The Knicks star shared with his teammate and co-host of the Roommates Show podcast, Josh Hart, on where he currently sees the team.
“I think we have a long way to go to be back to where we want to be. And I actually like that because it's like a new focus for us,” Brunson said (21:28 mark) on an episode that aired last month. “We're not jumping back into where we were last year, it's like a whole new journey. It's really easy to be like, ‘Alright, let's get back to the conference finals. That's our goal.' No, our goal is to get better every single day. Especially with this new regime, these new schemes, this new everything. It's like a whole reset.”
So far, the Knicks have been off to a good start for the 2025-26 season winning six games and three losses. Next up for the Knicks is their game against the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday, Nov. 10.
