Brunson the Belieber? Knicks' Star Expounds on Pregame Ritual
New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson has a special pregame ritual that some NBA players might not be brave enough to admit: the metropolitan franchise face has transferred his time-honored tradition of listening to popstar Justin Bieber's discography before tip-off.
For Brunson, however, listening to Bieber is hardly something to feel shy about, especially when it's brought him so much success as he continues through the start of his fifth NBA season and first with the Knicks.
After all, they have the same initials. Some might call it a match made in heaven.
"I wasn't always a Bieber fan," he said during a Knicks interview with Ahmad Rashad. "I have a younger sister, she was a big Bieber fan from the beginning. I remember he came out with an album in 2015."
Brunson's sister told him to listen to "Purpose," Bieber's fourth studio album released at the start of his freshman year at Villanova. He reluctantly did at first, but slowly became attached to the music in a superstitious way.
"Alright, this is good stuff," Brunson said of Bieber. "I'll listen to it. Somehow, someway, it came on my headphones for pregame, and then we won that game. So I thought, 'Oh is this like a thing?' So now since college, I have to listen to at least one Bieber song before every game."
Brunson seems to have been listening to Bieber lately if his numbers to begin the season are any indication.
He's second on the team in points per game (19.9) and steals (1.3) while being the clear leader in assists (6.9). Brunson's coming off a steady performance in Tuesday's win over the Utah Jazz, as he posted his third-highest scoring total of the season (25 points, 12 coming in the fourth quarter) to go along with eight assists and three steals.
Brunson, who has been around the organization since he was a child due to his father Rick's three seasons as a player in New York, was also asked who his favorite Knick was growing up.
"It's a toss-up between Marcus Camby and Latrell (Sprewell)," Brunson said. "Actually, you gotta throw Allen (Houston) in there too cause I definitely used his jab-step a lot."
Rick, who is now an assistant coach with the team, played alongside the metropolitan trio when the Knicks made an unprecedented run to the 1999 NBA Finals as a No. 8 seed in a lockout-shortened season.
New York lost in five games to Tim Duncan, David Robinson, and the San Antonio Spurs, the first in that group's turn-of-the-century dynasty. Though he was only three years old, Brunson remembers it feeling routine to meet players that were a part of the last Knicks squad to reach the Finals.
"I just remember when I used to meet players like that it became normal," he said.
Now, Brunson is paving his own path through the NBA as one of the leaders on a talented Knicks team. As he prepares to take on the Denver Nuggets at Ball Arena Wednesday night (10 p.m. ET, MSG), maybe he'll be blasting some Bieber through his headphones to help New York snag a win on the road.
You can follow Zach Dimmitt on Twitter at @ZachDimmitt7
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