Jalen Brunson’s Accusation Leaves Mark Cuban Visibly Uncomfortable Over Alleged “Jab” at His Parents

The one that got away. That’s what Jalen Brunson will always be for the Mavs. When JB initially offered to stay put with a 5-year $55 million extension, they were hesitant to spend that amount on him. But after he proved his worth in the playoffs, the team returned with the same offer, only for him to believe that he had “outgrown” that number. Signing a more lucrative 4-year $104 million deal with the Knicks, Brunson skipped town to become the King of New York. Have things been settled or is there still bad blood?

Sure enough, Mavs’ then-majority owner Mark Cuban was disappointed and made a controversial statement, “Things went south when the parents got involved.” Obviously, he was referring to the Knicks hiring Rick Brunson as the team’s assistant coach, likely to lure Jalen to New York.

Although it has been two years since the free agency drama and both Jalen and Mavs are in a great situation now, the Knicks talisman revealed his true feelings to Cuban, “The only thing I didn’t like about the whole situation was when Mark said ‘when the parents got involved, that’s when things got messy.’ So, that was the one thing I was like damn, that was a little jab.”

As expected, the topic sparked tensions and led to a bit of awkwardness on the podcast, but Cuban cleared the air with Brunson within a split-second saying, “It wasn’t really. I didn’t wanna go there here. It wasn’t a jab at all. I mean, there is no reason for us to talk about any of that stuff, but it wasn’t just a jab JB for real.”

Despite Mark denying any ill intentions behind that comment, Brunson revealed on the Roommates Show that it bothered him. And Cuban responded, “I apologize. It put you in a certain way that wasn’t the intention, but it was hard to deal with. It was a unique negotiation in a lot of different ways.” The negotiation didn’t just end after the player moved to New York. This entire fiasco and series of events called for some official attention from the board itself.

Did Mark Cuban have the right to be frustrated with the Jalen Brunson situation?

As Cuban mentioned, Jalen Brunson’s free agency was a unique negotiation. And it raised so many eyebrows that the league even conducted an investigation to assess if there was any tampering involved. After a thorough five-month investigation, the Knicks were found guilty of ‘violating league rules governing the timing of free agency discussions’ with JB. Sure enough, long before Brunson entered free agency, several reports were suggesting that both parties had already come to an agreement.

Then, there was also the controversial hiring of Rick Brunson. Despite violating league rules, all the Knicks paid for it was a future second-round pick. A small price to pay for a bright future, isn’t it? With so much drama surrounding the free agency and eventually losing the battle to the Knicks, it is understandable why Mark Cuban felt a little betrayed.

However, he claims to have no hard feelings with Jalen Brunson two years after the incident. “I’m happy for you. I mean, like when you got married, we still keep in touch. I’m always sending you congrats and this and that. There’s definitely no hard feelings at all.”

And both parties can look back and laugh at the whole situation because Jalen is now one of the biggest superstars with the Knicks and the Mavs are among the top title contenders. Cuban said it best, “All’s well that ends well.”

Before you go, do not forget to check out this crossover between BG12 and Georgia Bulldogs star Asia Avinger