Do you think the New York Knicks knew that Jalen Brunson and Jordan Clarkson had talked about teaming up before? Probably not. It all happened so fast. Clarkson said during Saturday's live taping of the "Roommates Show" that his agent, Rich Paul, called him to ask where he wanted to go. He told Paul New York, and the next thing he knew, he was a Knick.
Clarkson cited Madison Square Garden and the energy as one of the main reasons behind his desire to play in NYC. He also said that "playing with y'all" was one of the reasons. The term y'all was in reference to Brunson and Josh Hart, two of the hosts. He played with Hart before in LA.
Brunson revealed that he and Clarkson had discussed playing together, but the star point guard said he didn't want to specify when that discussion took place, only that it was "a while ago."
Brunson and Clarkson previously talked about playing together
Brunson might've been hesitant to say when he and Clarkson talked about it because he didn't want the league to look into the Knicks for tampering. There is already enough chatter about Brunson's extension last season, with New York haters thinking that the front office pulled off something similar to the Clippers and Kawhi Leonard.
Or perhaps the two discussed it when Brunson was still in Dallas. That classifies as "a while ago," but then again, Brunson has been a Knick for three years now. Anything longer than a year should count as a while ago, right?
Anyway, it doesn't matter when they had that conversation because Clarkson is in New York now. He was so set on playing for the Knicks that he signed a minimum contract.
Clarkson spent the past five-and-a-half seasons in Utah. Ironically, the last time he played in a playoff game for the Jazz was in 2022, when Brunson and the Mavericks beat them in the first round. Utah has been a bottom-dweller in the league since it traded Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell.
The 33-year-old will get to experience playing for a winning team again, and he'll get to do so with Brunson. Clarkson's name is getting floated around as a candidate for the Sixth Man of the Year award, and if that comes true, his contract would go down as another steal under Leon Rose. Great value is more important than ever in today's CBA world. Of all people, Brunson knows that.
The Captain got his wish of playing alongside Clarkson, who got his wish of playing for the Knicks and with Brunson. You can call that a win-win.