Jalen Brunson delivers blunt response to Isaiah Hartenstein’s Knicks-Trae Young dig

Isaiah Hartenstein claims he wouldn’t have allowed Trae Young to celebrate all over the Knicks logo at the Garden in the Hawks’ NBA cup quarterfinal win Wednesday. 

Jalen Brunson’s response: We’ll never know. 

“Isaiah isn’t here,” the Knicks’ captain said Saturday after practice. 

A Knicks’ villain dating back to the 2021 playoffs, Young stopped at the Knicks logo and picked up and rolled fake dice as if he were playing craps in Las Vegas in the final seconds of the Hawks’ win. 

Hartenstein, who spent the last two seasons with the Knicks before signing with the Thunder this offseason, told reporters that if he was still a Knick, “I wouldn’t have let him roll the dice on midcourt. I would’ve done something. I’ve always got love for New York.” 

Brunson reiterated that the Knicks’ biggest mistake was letting the Hawks win the game, not allowing Young to celebrate. 

“Do I have an issue with it? Yeah, but he won, they won,” Brunson said. “So why put in false and fake energy to do something like that, when you could’ve done that to try and win the game? That’s just my point of view on it.” 

A recent ESPN report listed a timetable for Mitchell Robinson to return as late as the end of January or into February from left ankle surgery.

That was news to coach Tom Thibodeau. 

“I haven’t heard that,” Thibodeau said. “He’s following a protocol, going step by step and when he’s ready, he’s ready. He’s doing well, he hasn’t been cleared for practice yet. Once he gets cleared for practice, then we’ll have a better idea of a timeline. But we’re going to be patient and let him work through it. There’s a lot of steps he has to clear first.” 

Ariel Hukporti (sprained left ankle) has been able to practice “a little bit,” Thibodeau said.

He will remain out against the Magic on Sunday night.