Things got heated between New York Knicks captain Jalen Brunson and San Antonio Spurs All-Star guard De’Aaron Fox during Game 2 of the NBA Finals on Friday, prompting Knicks assistant coach Rick Brunson to intervene.
A new audio clip from NBA content creator Mark Burnett, AKA “spurssixthman,” has revealed fascinating details of the incident.
As noted earlier by several lip-readers, Brunson was heard yelling, “You ain’t tough! You ain’t tough! Don’t do that!” to Fox as he was escorted back to the Knicks bench.
It turns out that Brunson Sr. received a mouthful from not just NBA official Tony Brothers, but scores of Spurs fans seated courtside at Frost Bank Center. As seen in the clip below, Brothers yelled obscenities at Jalen Brunson’s father while Spurs fans urged the official to eject the Knicks coach several times.
“Woah woah woah. Get the f**k back there right now. Get back there!” Brothers told Brunson as he escorted him back to the Knicks bench.
Burnett, seated courtside, was among the fans who urged Brothers to eject Brunson.
“Throw his a** out. Throw him out,” the fans were heard yelling.
Did Rick Brunson Cross a Line?
Several fans and analysts felt Brunson should have allowed his son to handle the situation with Fox by himself.
The Athletic’s Will Guillory called the tense exchange his “favorite moment” of the NBA Finals thus far.
“Maybe my favorite moment of the series so far,” he wrote. “Rick Brunson was the only Knicks coach to walk over during an altercation in front of the Spurs bench.
“But it wasn’t to protect his son. He just had to make sure he told De’Aaron Fox he ain’t tough lol.”
Fans Blast Rick Brunson
Several fans, though, did not find the exchange entertaining in the least.
“That’s weak to me…Your son is a grown man…Let him fight his own battles,” one fan wrote, via The Spun.
“He’s the only coach who went over there BECAUSE it was his son. That looked lame as heck LIVE and looks worse now,” another fan added.
“His son is a grown man, that’s very lame.”
“For me, so far, that was the most over-acting (OA) reaction to a man’s game. Rick should and must not meddle in a live game like that.”
“He should have received a technical foul. If a player from the Knicks bench had walked over and done that he would have been suspended for one game for leaving the bench area.”
Besides the exchange between Rick Brunson and De’Aaron Fox, the NBA Finals have been mostly devoid of controversies thus far. Simply put, the Knicks have found ways to erase double-digit deficits in both games to keep their historic winning streak alive.
The Knicks will try to keep their 13-game winning streak alive in Game 3 on Monday. A win would almost guarantee them their first NBA championship since 1973 — no team has ever rallied back from a 3-0 deficit in postseason history. Furthermore, the Spurs are trying to become the first team ever to win an NBA Finals after losing the first two games at home. The Knicks are 1.5-point favorites to take a 3-0 lead.
Like HEAVY’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on HEAVY
The post LEAKED AUDIO Reveals Details of Heated Knicks-Spurs NBA Finals Exchange appeared first on HEAVY.