There were plenty of NBA Finals jokes to go around when Jalen Brunson’s New York Knicks teammates crashed his Saturday Night Live season 52 premiere monologue.
“Tonight, I’m going to approach hosting [SNL] the same way as I approached the Knicks’ Finals games,” Brunson, 30, vowed on stage in Studio 8H on Saturday, September 26. “The first three-quarters of the show are going to be god awful, the last sketch is going to be amazing.”
The point guard was soon interrupted by Knicks teammates Karl-Anthony Towns, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby, and Josh Hart asking questions from the studio audience.
Brunson poked fun at Towns’ propensity for nearly fouling out during the NBA Finals in June, assuring him that you cannot “foul out of SNL.”
“So I could be here like the whole show? Nice,” Towns declared.
Anunoby, 29, quizzed Brunson on whether he remembered “in Game 4, when you took that shot at the end and missed it?”
“Yeah, you tipped it in,” Brunson replied, with Anunoby quipping, “Oh yeah, that was awesome.”
Hart, 31, was most concerned with reports that Brunson took a $113 million pay cut in the summer of 2024 to stay with the Knicks.
When Brunson confirmed that figure was correct, Hart asked, “Wow. So, is that money still up for grabs?”
Hart also finally offered an explanation for the viral clip of him poking Brunson in the butt while they were celebrating their NBA Finals victory over the San Antonio Spurs in June.
“[I did it] because it was funny,” Hart joked.
Jalen Brunson on “Saturday Night Live.” Courtesy YouTube/NBC
Earlier in the monologue, Brunson referenced another pop culture touchstone that took place at Madison Square Garden over the summer.
“The new [NBA] season is just a couple of weeks away and I gotta say it’s going to be pretty cool to be back at Madison Square Garden,” he said. “Looking around like, ‘Wow, just a few months ago this was the exact spot where Taylor [Swift] and Travis [Kelce] got married!’”
Prior to his SNL hosting debut, Brunson admitted on Tamron Hall on Monday, September 21, that he was “probably not” prepared to make his sketch comedy debut.
“I’m being honest with you: I have no idea what I’m walking into, but I know it’s going to turn out great,” he said.
The athlete shot down the possibility of singing on SNL, though he left a little wiggle room for a potential dance number.
“I’m not gonna say no to that. Maybe,” he teased.
Brunson has joined a pantheon of NBA greats who have hosted SNL throughout the show’s 52-year history, including Bill Russell, Michael Jordan, LeBron James and Charles Barkley.
Saturday Night Live continues on NBC Saturday, October 3, at 11:30 p.m. ET with host Dakota Johnson and musical guests Turnstile. New episodes can be streamed Sundays via Peacock.
