Grant Hill Sees Bright Team USA Future For Knicks' Jalen Brunson

NBA legend Grant Hill was impressed by Jalen Brunson's quick maneuvering to land on the American FIBA World Cup roster and foresees a bright future for the New York Knicks point guard's national team affairs.

Jalen Brunson's wedding might turn out to be a fairytale for Team USA basketball as well.

Well-known for his on-court leadership and improvisation as the New York Knicks' primary point guard, Brunson had to engage in the most ambitious crossover yet in order to partake in the American effort in the upcoming FIBA Basketball World Cup: Brunson was set to tie the knot with high school sweetheart Ali Marks on Sept. 2 ... right in the middle of the World Cup's second round.

With Brunson long harboring dreams to play on the American team, he and Marks were able to conjure a happily ever after in the wake of an earlier-than-anticipated buzzer-beater. The two wed in Chicago last week, shortly before Brunson reported to Las Vegas for World Cup prep, flanked by plenty of Brunson's teammates from both the Knicks and Villanova Wildcats (in some cases both).

The gambit impressed Basketball Hall of Famer and Team USA's managing director Grant Hill, who wasn't so lucky in a similar situation: Hill was invited to partake in the 1999 Tournament of the Americas (co-starring then-Knicks star Allan Houston) but his wedding to R&B/gospel artist Tamia came on the day his fellow country disposed of an Argentina team led by a pre-San Antonio Manu Ginobili in the semifinal round before crushing Canada in the championship finale. 

Though Brunson has yet to register in Team USA's primary statistical ledgers, Hill believes the nuptial nudge is a sign of the exciting things to come for the current New Yorker. 

“I’ve always admired that kid,” Hill said, per Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press. "I just felt as you start looking at the next iteration of USA Basketball, and the guard position, I like our young guys. They’re all good people."

"I don’t want this to come off the wrong way, but just from a character, substance standpoint, he was a guy who I just thought is incredible. When he said, ‘It was always a dream of mine to be a part of this and I don’t want to miss this opportunity,’ I just said ‘Wow.’”

Fellow guards Anthony Edwards (Minnesota) and Tyrese Haliburton (Indiana) join Brunson amongst the guards in World Cup action, as do his metropolitan teammates Josh Hart and Quentin Grimes, the latter appearing on the select team helping the primary group prepare for the tournament in Asia. 

World Cup play officially tips off on Aug. 25 and Team USA opens up the next day against New Zealand in Pasay. Should the Americans finish in the upper half of a group that also stars Greece and Jordan. Sept. 2 would be an off day in the Americans' second-round affairs but there'd obviously be hardly any time to celebrate Brunson and Marks' union.

Fortunately for the newlyweds, it's 'til death do them part ... not the World Cup.

Brunson admitted he was nervous when approaching Marks about a last-minute schedule shift and a postponed honeymoon, but was relieved when his bride was equally eager to see him rep the country.

“I obviously had to make sure everything was OK on the personal side, but everything worked out," a relieved Brunson said. "There was really no convincing. I asked her, shakingly, asked her. It was actually a very easy kind of transition. Everything worked out, actually easier than expected.”

Team USA certainly hopes Brunson proves equally capable of bringing his quick sense of adjustment to international hardwood: led by Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr, the Americans are trying to recover from a seventh-place finish in the 2019 World Cup in China, the first time they went empty-handed in the tournament since 2002.

Before they embark for Asia, Team USA will face a series of tune-up games, starting Monday night in Las Vegas against Puerto Rico.

---

Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags

Want the latest in breaking news and insider information on the Knicks? Click Here.

Follow AllKnicks.com on Twitter.