Jalen Brunson admits that he does not regret getting a massive pay cut on his contract

Jalen Brunson is now an NBA champion, cementing his status as one of the most iconic legends of the New York Knicks. Throughout his time with the Knicks, he has had plenty of doubters, mostly because he is not the optimal player to be a superstar with his size. 

Considering the NBA history with smaller guards, that was a valid take on the Knicks. However, it seems Brunson is now one of the outliers like Stephen Curry and Isaiah Thomas before him. It was a well-built team around him, for which he can be held responsible due to the pay cut he took in the 2024 offseason.

Jalen Brunson is proud of taking that pay cut in the 2024 offseason with the Knicks

After two tremendous seasons with the Knicks, Brunson was up for a contract extension in the 2024 offseason. A lot of people thought that he deserved a supermax contract, but he agreed to a four-year, $156.5 million extension. For a superstar like that, it was a massive pay cut, since he left $113 million on the negotiating table.

It would have been easy to take that money, but Brunson was thinking about the team. He felt that taking a pay cut would help the team sign players to bigger contracts, and the Knicks were much more flexible. That paid off because with players like Karl-Anthony Towns, OG Anunoby, and Mikal Bridges on big contracts, they won the NBA championship.

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NBA players love making money, and that is seen in the contracts that they agree to and negotiate for. Brunson is once again the outlier. He wanted to help the Knicks build a winning team, and he just lived up to that by leading New York past the San Antonio Spurs in the 2026 NBA Finals with a 45-point night in the title-clincher.

"100 percent worth it. Even if we didn't achieve this, I feel like being able to do that and grind and go on a journey to try to achieve it would have been worth it as well, but this is definitely the cherry on top," Brunson told ESPN's Malika Andrews after winning the championship.

This victory might not have happened if he had taken that money and prevented the Knicks from making the roster moves they made. Now, Brunson can reap the benefits of his hard work. He is now an NBA champion, a bona fide New York legend for leading the Knicks to their first title in 53 years, and a future member of the Basketball Hall of Fame.

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