Free agency is right around the corner, but the New York Knicks decided to make a splash last week. SNY’s Ian Begley reported that New York and Rick Brunson were close to finalizing a contract to make him the organization’s newest assistant coach. Brunson will fill the spot of Kenny Payne, who’s now the head coach at Louisville.
In case you’re new here, you might be wondering why an assistant coach hire has caused such an uproar. Well, Rick’s the father of Jalen Brunson, a point guard that the Knicks have been linked to in numerous rumors. Jalen will be an unrestricted free agent if he and the Dallas Mavericks don’t agree to an extension.
Does the hiring of Rick mean that Jalen’s a lock to sign with the Knicks? No, but it means something at the very least. How often is it that a target’s father joins the team’s coaching staff? Don’t read too much into it, but it should raise some eyebrows.
Because fans are most likely far more familiar with Jalen than they are with Rick, let’s delve into some information about the new assistant coach.
Who is New York Knicks’ new assistant coach Rick Brunson?
5: Most recently served as a high school coach
Rick has a background as an assistant coach in the NBA, but he’s making his way to New York via Camden High School in New Jersey. Camden is exactly 100 miles from the city.
He coached at Camden for three seasons and navigated the Panthers to a 73-4 record during that span. This past season, Rick led Camden to a state title, the school’s first in 22 years.
In response to Rick leaving his role as head coach of the Panthers, Brian Gregg, the school’s junior varsity coach said (per TAPinto Camden):
"“I think in his time here, Rick laid a great foundation,” said Gregg. “He brought such a high level of discipline and expectations to the program.” Gregg said Brunson also “ shielded the kids from some of that outside nonsense” that came along with the team’s growing reputation as a national powerhouse."
The NBA is obviously a completely different beast than high school basketball, but for a team like the Knicks, they’d like to see a growth similar to what the Panthers have experienced.
4: He has a past with Tom Thibodeau
After Begley reported that Rick was finalizing an assistant coach contract, Twitter exploded. The news came a couple of days after Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer reported that “there’s a growing sense among league personnel that Jalen Brunson will return to Dallas following the Mavericks’ sprint to the Western Conference Finals.”
That wasn’t necessarily news because Mark Cuban’s made it known that Dallas wants to re-sign Jalen. So, when it was reported that Rick was going to make his way to New York to work under his old friend Tom Thibodeau, several Knicks fans chalked the move up to Rick and Thibodeau’s relationship.
Rick served as an assistant coach under Thibodeau with both the Chicago Bulls and the Minnesota Timberwolves, but their relationship didn’t start there. Begley wrote:
"Thibodeau and Brunson first met in Salem, Mass., when Thibodeau coached at Salem State and Brunson was a McDonald’s All-American at Salem High School. Brunson and Thibodeau played in the same Salem outdoor men’s summer league (Thibodeau played on a team that included some of his Salem State players). Brunson also worked out with Salem State players during Thibodeau’s tenure."
Rick went undrafted in 1995 and it wasn’t until the 1997-98 season that he made his official NBA debut once he signed with the Portland Trail Blazers. And Begley reported that leading up to that moment, “Thibodeau made calls on Brunson’s behalf – as he had done throughout Brunson’s career – advocating for the guard.” Interesting.
Once Payne made the switch to Louisville, perhaps the first person that Thibodeau thought of to take his spot was Rick. It wouldn’t be the first time that Thibodeau helped Rick get a position.
3: He played for the Knicks
As mentioned on the previous page, Rick played in the NBA from 1997 to 2006. His career started in Portland and ended in Houston with the Rockets. During the nine seasons that he spent in the league, Rick played for eight different teams.
During the 1998-99 and 1999-2000 seasons, he played for the Knicks. And after Rick played in seven games for the Boston Celtics in 2000-01, he made his way back to New York and appeared in 15 games that season for the Knicks.
His first year in New York marks the last time that the Knicks made it to the NBA Finals, where New York fell to the San Antonio Spurs in five games.
In fact, in the three years that Rick was with the Knicks, the team made the postseason each time, although it had far more to do with the likes of Patrick Ewing and Allan Houston.
In 1999-2000, he played in 37 regular-season games for New York and averaged 1.9 points and 1.3 assists in 7.8 minutes. He shot 41.4% from the floor and 15.4% from the 3-point line. The point guard’s best year was in 2004-05, when he averaged 5.5 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 5.1 assists in 80 games (39 starts) for the Los Angeles Clippers.
2: He’s Jalen Brunson’s father
Wow, this is news. Depending on what happens in Dallas, Jalen could leave the Mavericks in free agency. If he and the organization don’t agree to an extension, there will be multiple teams, along with the Knicks, who will be interested in the point guard.
The 25-year-old’s been linked to the Detroit Pistons, who will have the space to sign him to his expected $20-$25 million per year contract. If that were to happen, he’d be closer to his father, but still far.
Outside of Rick’s relationship with Thibodeau and Leon Rose (who was his agent), is New York hiring Jalen’s father enough to lure him to the Knicks? On one hand, it would likely be a nice change in pace for Jalen to get to spend a lot of time with his father, but on the other, does he really want his father to be his assistant coach in the NBA?
There are pros and cons to both sides and there’s going to continue to be plenty of speculation regarding the connection between Rick and Jalen until the point guard signs a new extension. Fans will find out in the coming weeks what Jalen’s future will look like.
1: Harassment allegations
Rick served as an assistant coach with the Timberwolves from 2016-18, and his time with the organization came to end after he resigned amid harassment allegations. Minnesota released a statement that read:
"“Our entire organization — made up of the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Minnesota Lynx and Iowa Wolves — is deeply committed to creating a safe work environment for our employees, partners and fans,” the team said in a statement. “Our teams strive to have our actions reflect our values each and every day. We work to maintain high standards of conduct and expect our staff to lead by example. We did not believe Mr. Brunson’s conduct was consistent with those standards.”"
Alan Milstein, Rick’s attorney, responded to that statement with one of his own:
"“Contrary to erroneous reports, there have been no findings of any wrongdoing by Rick, as any proper investigation by the Timberwolves would have shown,” Milstein said in a statement."
And four years before Rick resigned from his assistant coach position with the Timberwolves, he was charged with “attempted criminal sexual assault, criminal sexual abuse, aggravated battery and domestic battery following an incident with a masseuse in 2014.”
Rick was later acquitted of all charges in 2015 because “the state was unable to meet the burden of proof required to convict Brunson” but he did admit to having an affair with the woman (per ESPN’s Chris Haynes).
That makes two separate occasions where Rick was accused of serious wrongdoing. The reasons for his departure from Minnesota shouldn’t be overlooked. His “conduct” wasn’t “consistent” with the standards of the Timberwolves organization, so what does that mean about the Knicks organization?
Does the reasons for his hiring all boil down to his past with Rose and Thibodeau, who was part of Minnesota’s organization at the time of Rick’s resignation?
These are all major red flags. There’s an issue with how women are treated and regarded in the sports industry, and not just in the NBA.
Regardless of his own experience as a player in the NBA, his relationships with Thibodeau and Rose, and who his son is (those things don’t matter in this case), it’s disappointing that Rick has been granted yet another coaching opportunity.
What happened with the Timberwolves shouldn’t be ignored and people shouldn’t receive special treatment just because of who they are or who they know. Rick is no exception.
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