Shaquille O’Neal has never been shy about handing out comparisons, but his latest one about Jalen Brunson carries real meaning.
Speaking on “The Old Man and the Three,” the NBA legend revealed the exact moment he sensed something special was there inside the Knicks‘ star player, a look he says he’d only seen once before, in Kobe Bryant’s eyes.
Shaquille O’Neal Compares Jalen Brunson To Kobe Bryant
GettyShaquille O’Neal Makes Major Kobe Bryant Admission About Knicks’ Jalen Brunson
O’Neal recalled a pre-playoffs sit-down where he tried his usual trick of needling players about title expectations.
“Me and Kenny kind of cornered him. We had a show like right before playoffs started. And I like to mess with guys and say, hey man, you’re going to win a championship this year. He had that look in his eye like, like when I used to ask Kobe. Like he really had a look in his eye. Like I knew that, hey, they was going to do it. And then when they played Atlanta and lost those games, I got nervous. But the way they step up, the way they came back, the way they was beating teams, they actually did it the right way.”
That admission fits a broader pattern from O’Neal this offseason, who has repeatedly conceded he underestimated Brunson since New York signed him as a free agent in 2022. On “Inside the NBA,” O’Neal even apologized to Charles Barkley for doubting Brunson, calling him the greatest free-agent signing ever after the Finals MVP run.
Jalen Brunson’s Knicks Performance And Path To Next Season
GettyShaquille O’Neal Brings Up Kobe Bryant While Discussing Knicks’ Jalen Brunson
Brunson delivered a 45-point Finals MVP performance to lead the Knicks to their first championship since 1973, silencing years of skepticism about his ceiling against elite defenses.
That run, however, came at a physical cost: Brunson underwent surgery in early July on his left wrist to fix a tendon issue that had been “flipping and snapping” over the bone every time he shot, a problem he played through for much of the postseason.
The good news is the recovery timeline lines up cleanly with training camp, doctors expect him back on the court by late September, well ahead of the season opener.
For next season, Brunson’s job isn’t just scoring; it’s managing a title team’s target on its back while staying fresh, something New York can help by trusting its deeper bench built during the championship run.
Repeating the blueprint means replicating the identity that got them there rather than chasing flashier additions. The real challenge is health and hunger: wrist durability, opponents’ film adjustments, and the mental letdown that hits champions.
If Brunson manages his wrist workload smartly and leans on Josh Hart and OG Anunoby defensively, I believe the Knicks have the pieces to go back-to-back, but it hinges entirely on that wrist holding up under a full 82-game grind.
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