He may be the newly crowned NBA champion and Finals MVP, but even Jalen Brunson can’t keep up with the unfiltered bluntness of kids. The New York Knicks guard was left hilariously stunned during a recent viral interview on KidsSportsReporters after the young reporters roasted his former teammate, Luka Doncic. The friendship the two guards share is usually filled with mutual respect and lighthearted banter. But even he was flustered by a kid’s analysis.

Fresh off leading the New York Knicks to their first championship in 53 years, the highlight of Brunson’s victory press tour also included getting asked who was the most famous person in his contacts by a pair of tween boys. The young reporter had to nudge him to name a teammate, probably expecting a Knicks or Villanova player’s name. Instead, Brunson named Doncic and even sneakily dissed him in front of the kids.

“Yeah. I’m not a fan of Luka. He’s actually one of the worst teammates I’ve ever had,” Brunson joked, to which one of the kids gave his own viral assessment: “That’s crazy. He doesn’t play defense.”

The blunt declaration immediately left the Knicks superstar entirely speechless, and the only words he could form were “Wow! Wow!”. However, he quickly recovered from the moment to defend his ex-teammate: “He plays a little defense. He tries… he plays defense.”

After the kid simply replied with a mild “yeah,” a still-reeling Brunson could only shake his head and repeat, “Wow.”

We bet Brunson’s and Doncic’s chat was on fire after this interview.

Luka Doncic and Jalen Brunson’s friendship from an elite backcourt partnership

These days Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves provide the backcourt dominance mixed with ‘frenemy’ banter. When he was still the new generational talent in Dallas, a young Doncic formed a similar friendship with Jalen Brunson. Both players entered the league together as members of the 2018 NBA draft class. While Doncic was heralded as a top-five lottery pick and the immediate face of the franchise, Brunson arrived quietly as a second-round selection fighting for a defined role.

Sharing a backcourt with an MVP-caliber talent like Doncic initially caused Brunson to combat imposter syndrome. Just before Game 1 of the NBA Finals, Brunson was asked if he ever felt he didn’t belong at the level at which he’s playing.

“The only time is probably my rookie year,” Brunson admitted. “Playing pickup with the team in Dallas and then obviously watching Luka doing his thing so effortlessly,” Brunson admitted.

Despite the early structural hierarchy, the two developed an elite chemistry on the floor, ultimately engineering a memorable run to the 2022 Western Conference Finals together. Even after Brunson went to New York in the 2022 free agency and Doncic was subsequently traded to the Lakers in 2025, the underlying mutual respect never wavered.

Doncic, who was sidelined with a hamstring strain during the OKC matchup, made his support known for the Knicks as well.

“We talk all the time,” Doncic revealed after the Knicks won the championship. “We talked before the last game. I said, ‘You’ve got one more‘.

“And of course, after he won, I congratulated him on the title.”