Knicks’ Jalen Brunson Addresses Olympic Snub

Like so many other Americans, New York Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson took in the 2024 Summer Olympics … albeit with a larger sense of longing than his fellow countrymen.

Brunson was one of the most glaring names left off the United States’ men’s national basketball team’s Olympic roster, one that nonetheless brought home its fifth consecutive gold medal in the quadrennial competition back from Paris. The newly-minted Manhattan captain spoke about the snub in a profile from GQ, one that documented the end of the “‘Nova Knicks” era.

“The way I played last year, I thought I was deserving. I thought I could have fit in,” Brunson firmly stated to Sam Schube of GQ. “I’ve played many roles throughout my career; I could play another. But, obviously, it just wasn’t in the cards at that time.”

Some believed that Brunson was left home due to the hand injury that marred the final stages of the Knicks’ 2024 playoff run but he clarified that the roster was formed before the ailment … and that he nonetheless supported the American Olympic run that ended with a gold medal victory over host nation France.

Keeping Brunson off the Team USA roster left last season’s leading American-born scorer (28.7 points per game) behind. The point guard previously partook in the red, white, and blue effort at the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup in Asia along with fellow Knick and Villanova alum Josh Hart but the team was mostly revamped after a disappointing fourth-place finish: only Anthony Edwards (Minnesota) and Tyrese Haliburton (Indiana) appeared on both the World Cup and Olympic rosters.

The snub has created a potentially dangerous situation for Brunson’s opponents, as the backcourt threat hinted that now he has something new to prove after the departure, even after a career-best season that guided the Knicks to their best season in over a decade.

“You move on and you find ways to get better,” Brunson said. “You keep having goals, and that’s a goal of mine. I want to play next time.”

Team USA will look to protect its Olympic title on home hardwood next time around, as the torch will make its way to Los Angeles in 2028. In the meantime, Brunson and the Knicks face a preseason game on Sunday evening at Madison Square Garden against the Minnesota Timberwolves (6 p.m. ET, MSG).

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