Jalen Brunson's Fallon Moment With His Father Will Make You Cry
Just days before Father's Day, Jalen Brunson walked onto The Tonight Show stage holding the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy, and almost immediately started talking about his dad.
The New York Knickstook over Monday's episode of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon two days after clinching the franchise's first NBA title in 53 years, defeating the San Antonio Spurs 94–90 in Game 5 on Saturday night. Finals MVP Brunson (who scored 45 points in the clincher, matching Michael Jordan as the only other player in history to score that many points in a championship-winning game) walked out to the Roots playing 'We Are the Champions' and a studio audience made up entirely of Knicks fans who couldn't get Finals tickets.
Fallon reminded Brunson that during a 2024 appearance on the show, the point guard had made a promise, namely to 'bring the trophy here' if the Knicks win. 'And you're a man of your word,' Fallon said. 'Here it is right here.' When asked if the championship had sunk in yet, Brunson shook his head. 'It hasn't sunk in yet,' he said. 'And I don't know if it will for a while. The opportunity presented itself. We went out there as a team, we found a way to do it and fight back all those games, and it was worth it.'
The most touching moment of the night came when Fallon showed Brunson footage he hadn't seen: a clip of his father, Knicks assistant coach Rick Brunson, celebrating on the court after the final buzzer. Rick was a member of the last Knicks team to reach the NBA Finals, in 1999, when New York fell to the Spurs. The Brunsons are now the first father-son duo in NBA history to each reach the Finals with the same franchise. 'I was good before I saw him,' Brunson told Fallon of the postgame moment with his father, 'and then I obviously got emotional afterwards. It was everything I dreamed of. It's all the times we had together. When you're a kid and he's practicing with you, going over drills over and over again... you put all your energy into the little details that actually matter.' Fallon then put up a photo of Rick Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns Sr. both holding the trophy. 'Both of your dads,' he noted.
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Towns, who broke a postseason record held by Steph Curry by outscoring opponents by 258 points across the playoffs, had spoken throughout the Finals about his late mother, Jacqueline Cruz-Towns, who died of COVID-19 complications in April 2020 at age 58. On the Fallon stage, Towns told Fallon that knowing her energy was in that building 'had to help.' 'I did what I was supposed to do,' he said.
The episode also featured a now-viral exchange about Coach Mike Brown's infamous 'Who Let the Dogs Out' pregame ritual, which Brunson admitted originated with a 7-year-old flag football team Brown once coached in San Antonio. Brunson revealed he still listens to Justin Bieber in the locker room immediately after every pregame talk, a detail Fallon remembered from a previous interview. 'Has to be Bieber right before I run out,' Brunson confirmed. Brown, sitting right there, did not look particularly thrilled about being linked to either the Baja Men or Justin Bieber.
Wu-Tang Clan performed, Spike Lee crashed the monologue as an unannounced guest, and Fallon called the booking '53 years in the making.' But the part that will stay with people was probably a father and a son sharing a victory.
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This story was originally published June 16, 2026 at 4:48 AM.