Right after losing the NBA Finals, Mitch Johnson graciously admitted that the “better team” won. Now we know that admission without any bitterness didn’t come from nowhere. Fresh off capturing the NBA championship and Finals MVP honors, New York Knicks superstar Jalen Brunson showcased the elite sportsmanship that everyone’s been debating if Victor Wembanyama lacked and will undeniably define Brunson’s legacy. Appearing on CBS Mornings alongside his father, Rick Brunson, the newly crowned champion sat down with hosts Gayle King and Nate Burleson to reflect on the emotional aftermath of New York’s historic title-clinching victory.

The interview aired four days after San Antonio’s collapse in Game 5 on June 13, when New York closed out the series 94-90 at Frost Bank Center. At the final buzzer, the first thing we and the cameras saw was Jalen and Rick share a beautiful father-son moment. When Burleson opened the segment asking how it felt to hug his father ‘first’ after winning the title, Jalen corrected him. “Second person,” Brunson clarified several times. Rick Brunson was the second person his son hugged after the game ended at 94-90.

“I hugged…  said what’s up to Coach Johnson from the Spurs first, just to show respect because…”

This automatic display of humility completely captivated King, who immediately pressed, “Just the fact that you did that before you did anything, you went over, I thought the grace of in that moment shows how well he was raised and the type of person you are. Why did you do that? I love that,” King admired.

Brunson, ever precise on deflecting unearned praise, explained, “It was just kind of instinct, like, it’s like kind of how I was raised.”

While his father was silently smiling, Jalen added, “I think win or loss to show respect regardless of the outcome. And got a lot of respect for them over there. And yeah, once I saw him [Rick], it was emotional from that point on. But yeah, it was a crazy moment.”

Brunson’s conscious decision to show respect for the opposing coaching staff offered a striking, polar-opposite contrast to the optics of San Antonio’s own superstar, Victor Wembanyama.

That contrast wasn’t a one-off reaction to a single bad night, either. The Spurs star had already drawn a warning from the league office earlier in the playoffs for skipping a mandatory media session after the conference finals, and beat writers covering the Thunder series noted he’d brushed past Oklahoma City without a handshake line that round too.

It was not the first time in this postseason that Wembanyama had attracted attention for his behavior toward officials and opponents, having been warned by the NBA after skipping media availability following Game 5 of the Western Conference finals.

His demeanor sparked a massive league-wide debate about the starkly different ways elite athletes process the agonizing finality of losing a championship series.

Jalen Brunson’s instinct contrasts Victor Wembanyama’s behavior

Jalen Brunson’s message about showing respect no matter the result seemed like a subtle but unmistakable response to Victor Wembanyama’s actions just a few days earlier.

His refusal to join the handshake line marked a real departure from a tradition that’s outlasted nearly every other postgame ritual in the sport- coaches, broadcasters and former players have leaned on it for decades as the one non-negotiable gesture after a series ends.

Instead, the 22-year-old walked straight off the floor and into the locker room tunnel, leaving the court without exchanging handshakes or pleasantries with Brunson or any other members of the Knicks roster.

Most notably, he seemed to give Jeremy Sochan the cold shoulder. Despite having been teammates only a few months earlier, he walked right past him with little acknowledgment, even making brief shoulder-to-shoulder contact as he left.

The visual of Wembanyama skipping the traditional post-series grace echoed the Detroit Pistons’ infamous 1991 walk-off on Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls, one of the most criticized moments in playoff history, still invoked more than three decades later whenever sportsmanship comes up, not, as it’s sometimes misremembered, a Celtics rivalry moment. Just like the endless debate on that, Wemby immediately polarized the NBA world.

Warriors star Draymond Green harshly criticized Wemby on his podcast, arguing that elite competitors must “look your killer in the face.”

Conversely, several retired veterans, such as DeMarcus Cousins, urged critics to temper their expectations of a 22-year-old navigating the immense pressure of losing a Finals series.

7x champion Robert Horry similarly dismissed the outrage and claimed he preferred raw emotion over performative sportsmanship. But there was nothing performative about Jalen Brunson’s act.

The sentiment was mutual, as even Mitch Johnson praised Brunson and the Knicks’ experience.

“We didn’t deserve to win the games,” Johnson said after the loss. “We weren’t ready to win an NBA championship. The better team won.”

And with a league warning and a second skipped handshake line now on his postseason ledger, Wembanyama’s walk-off in San Antonio reads less like one bad moment than a habit still being written.