Jalen Brunson has already made his mark among basketball’s biggest names. After leading the New York Knicks to their first championship in 53 years, the Finals MVP matched Michael Jordan’s record with 45 points in a title-clinching road win. Now, JB is stepping into another spotlight that few NBA stars ever reach.
Jalen Brunson’s Saturday Night Live debut will add another chapter to the Knicks’ long history with the iconic show. When Brunson hosts the Season 52 premiere on September 26, he will become the first Knicks player to host SNL. He will also become just the fifth NBA player ever to take the lead role, following Bill Russell, Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley and LeBron James.
Barkley stands alone among that group. The former Suns star has hosted SNL four times, in 1993, 2010, 2012, and 2018. No other NBA player has returned to host the show that many times. Now, Jalen Brunson will also join a short list of athletes from New York-based teams who have hosted.
Only Eli Manning and Derek Jeter did it before him. That makes the moment particularly fitting for a player who has embraced the spotlight in New York. The Knicks have had SNL connections before, too.
Bill Bradley became the first Knicks player to appear on the show in 1975, while Carmelo Anthony made cameos in 2011, including appearances in “Laser Cats” and as fictional shot-putter Carmela St. Knix.
But Jalen Brunson’s role is different. This time, the Knicks star won’t simply make a cameo. That’s why the appearance has its own challenge.
“Live TV can get brutal if an athlete gets stiff on cue cards or takes themselves too seriously, but writers aren’t sweating it,” wrote Spurs reporter Dusty Garza. “The blueprint is simple: give him deadpan straight lines and let the cast do the heavy lifting around him. That approach worked wonders for Peyton Manning and Travis Kelce, and doing it in front of a rabid New York crowd basically gives Brunson home-court advantage.”
As the tweet suggests, Jalen Brunson can look at two NFL stars for proof that athletes can thrive on Saturday Night Live. Peyton Manning set the bar in 2007 with the now-famous United Way parody.
What started as a wholesome football segment quickly turned into Manning aggressively coaching children, throwing footballs at them and taking the joke to an absurd level. The sketch became one of the most memorable athlete-led moments in the show’s history.
Travis Kelce followed in 2023 and showed a different kind. He leaned into his personality, playing everything from a man dining with American Girl dolls to an over-the-top self-defense instructor.
He also excelled as the straight man in the “Straight Male Friend” parody. Then there is also a reminder that the transition from sports to live comedy is not always easy.
Fran Tarkenton became the first professional athlete to host SNL in 1977, but his opening monologue showed how uncomfortable the format could be for an athlete.
He sang “Feelings” while Bill Murray provided running commentary, turning the awkwardness itself into part of the bit. Now, Jalen Brunson can look at his experience of talking to the media during his basketball career and can also lean on his work with Josh Hart on The Roommates Show.
The podcast has grown into a major project for the Knicks teammates, and the two are taking it a step further with a live show at Randall’s Island Park on September 24. Just two days later, Brunson will walk onto the SNL stage at 30 Rockefeller Plaza.
That media experience could prove useful, especially with Jalen Brunson already thinking about life beyond basketball. In an interview with The Post, the Knicks star said both media and coaching are possible paths once his playing career ends.
“Me and Josh have a podcast [“The Roommates Show”] that’s given me something to think about. It’s done well. And so that’s something I can think about,” Brunson said. “But coaching? I think when I was younger, I always wanted to coach after I was done playing. At this rate, where I am now, I would coach high school or the pros. I would not want to coach college.”
For now, though, Jalen Brunson has no plans to step away from the court. His growing comfort in front of a microphone simply gives him another tool to lean on as he prepares for one of the biggest non-basketball stages of his career.