Sometimes it’s interesting to wonder what would Jalen Brunson‘s career trajectory be like had he stayed with the Dallas Mavericks. But then, he is not built to hold the place of the sixth man on the team. So, when the New York Knicks signed him in 2022, a new era for the 28-year-old PG was about to begin. Interestingly enough, Rick Brunson has been working with the Knicks since then. And now some piping hot revelations on Mark Cuban and Brunson Jr. have come into the spotlight.

The father-son duo recently appeared on the Roommates Show and the topic of Jalen Brunson’s Mavs stint popped up. It’s surprising to know that Mark Cuban never really made an honest bid to re-sign the point guard. In reality, the former owner of the Dallas Mavericks straight out rejected Brunson’s $55 million contract extension twice. And the reason, Cuban gave, as revealed by Jalen Brunson was: “The parents got involved is when things got messy.”

Rick Brunson took his turn to correct his son in this matter. Well, being an assistant coach of the Knicks himself, Brunson Sr. has been in the show biz for a while to understand the underlying implications of words. “Well let’s make it very clear. It wasn’t the parents. It was me and I didn’t get involved,” Jalen Brunson’s dad stated. “I’ve been involved it’s my son. I’m a father first. I’m a coach, I understand business. Mark, Rick Carlisle, and Jason Kidd love them. They did great by him. It was a business decision on their part and we accepted that.”

So, what’s this “business decision” Papa Brunson is talking about? It looks like Mark Cuban had some sort of a plan prepared for Jalen Brunson for his journey in the league post-Mavericks. However, things didn’t turn out the way the business tycoon had envisioned. And Brunson signed a 4-year, $104M contract with the Knicks.

Jalen Brunson could’ve become a free agent to try his luck in the league

The senior Brunson understood the idea behind Mark Cuban‘s “business decision” concept. He shared his thoughts on this during the conversation. “The business decision was, they wanted you to go into free agency, which I would’ve done too,” Rick said. “To see if you’re going to get the midlevel or the 55. And then they could match it or whatever right? That’s a business decision and I knew that. I’ve been in the business too long not to understand the business. So to say the parent I didn’t like that particularly.”

So, maybe the Mavericks owner wanted to see if Jalen Brunson would end up with a contract lesser than his value or something around the $55 million he was demanding as an extension. But well, little did Cuban know back then, that the Knicks would be more than happy to invest their means in a talent like the one-time NBA All-Star point guard. Moreover, the Mavs minority owner also apologized to Jalen last year stating: “I apologize, if it put you in a certain way, that wasn’t the intention.” The business mogul was facing flak for his “parent” statement, hence the apology.

Jalen Brunson’s move to the New York Knicks reshaped his career. Mark Cuban’s business gamble backfired as the Knicks seized the chance to sign the rising star. Rick Brunson clarified the narrative, defending his family’s role. In the end, the Mavericks lost a key player while the Knicks gained a leader. Brunson’s journey proves betting on oneself can lead to greatness.