Brunson is a winner all the way through
SAN ANTONIO — He is The Winner. He is to Jay Wright what Bobby Hurley was once to Mike Krzyzewski.
He is every college basketball coach’s dream point guard, and he deserves the Wooden Award and a place in the NBA one day because he is made of The Wright Stuff.
Jalen Brunson, national champion again after Villanova 79, Michigan 62, is The Winner.
The Winner makes his teammates better because The Winner makes more of the right decisions with the ball in his hands than anyone at any given time in any given game on any given court.
Jalen Brunson eats, sleeps and breathes basketball and is driven to make himself better today than he was yesterday.
The Winner does not need to be the quickest, strongest, longest player in the gym or the arena. The Winner overcomes with a beautiful basketball mind fashioned as a tot under the demanding guidance and tough love of an NBA father.
“Nothing was ever given to him,” former Knick and NBA journeyman Rick Brunson, one proud father, told The Post. “He wasn’t blessed with the great athleticism that everyone would like to have. But he maximized his God-given talent, and he’s been a winner since high school. I’ve been so proud that wherever he went he’s always won.”
The Winner does not care about making the ESPN SportsCenter highlights or his stat sheet; The Winner only cares about winning.
“I always taught him at a young age that winning is important, you get more recognition if you win,” Rick Brunson said.
The Winner solves problems on the basketball court the way Floyd Mayweather solves problems in the boxing ring.
“That’s a great analogy,” Rick Brunson said. “The first five minutes of the game he tries to figure things out and then he knows how to adjust, then he goes for it.”
The Winner never lets you see him sweat. He wears a mask, a game face that may not rival Bernard King’s, but never wavers. Twenty points up or 20 points down, The Winner plays on.
“That comes from Coach [John] Chaney,” said Rick Brunson, who played at Temple. “Coach Chaney always taught us you can’t play with emotion. You keep the same level of maturity throughout the game no matter what’s going on. You never know if you’re winning or losing with him. That’s the way he plays.”
Rick Brunson pushed his son, hardened him, toughened him.
“I think the biggest thing was he wanted to be good, and that’s for any athlete who wants to be great,” Rick Brunson said. “I had a chance to know Kobe [Bryant] at a young age, I know his dad, I knew the things that he went through. If you want to be good at something you have to put your effort into it. I just told him what I thought. He actually executed it. ”
The Winner’s name is not expected to be called in the first round of the NBA draft. It would be more fuel for his fire.
“He’s a much better offensive player than I ever could dream of,” Rick Brunson said. “He could shoot it, he has a little bit more athleticism than I had, a lot more vision. He’s very, very self-confident. I’ve always questioned myself.”
When Villanova won the national championship two years ago, Jalen was a role player.
“His sophomore year he played Robin,” Rick Brunson said. “This year, he’s Batman, so I think he can play multiple roles on any team and that’s what makes him so special. He had to learn how to fit in, and now he’s doing it as the leader of the team.”
Rick Brunson always implored his son and daughter to strive for perfection. While he was driving Jalen on the basketball court, his wife was driving him in the classroom.
“He deserves all the credit,” Rick Brunson said. “He’s the one who put up with the hard training, the discipline that I instilled in him, and he was a willing listener and a willing learner.”