The counterattack of the second round pick! He is the current version of NBA "BUG", with average talent but unlimited energy

Strive is not worth mentioning in the face of talent? Jaylen Brunson has heard of this sentence countless times, but he just wants to go against the current and be the king who dominates his own destiny.

"You are not high enough, so you must be fast enough, and think more, and predict what will happen in advance, such as where to break through to attract defense and pass it on to your weak teammates. Do you understand?" This is the basketball concept that Rick Brunson has implanted for his son since he was a child, and it belongs to his philosophy.

Rick Brunson is a typical wandering player in the NBA. He has been in 9 years and has averaged 3.2 points, 1.3 rebounds and 2.6 assists in his career. He has never won a guarantee contract. He is 1.93 meters tall, not to mention his son who is 5cm short of himself.

In 1996, Brunson was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey. As a second-generation star, he was highly expected by his father since he was a child. He began to undergo systematic training at the age of 5. Especially after the doctor said that Brunson Jr. could only grow to 1.85 meters in the end, Rick's requirements for his son became stricter. He was called at 5 a.m., running, jumping, dribbling, dribbling with his fingertips, shooting arcs must exceed 45°, etc. Rick will supervise the whole process, and every mistake is made, he will be punished with 20 push-ups. This nearly militarized training has kept Brunson on the verge of collapse at all times.

"I have never seen that father treat his children like this," recalled mother Sandra.

Of course, Rick also felt sorry for his son, but he knew the hardships of basketball and knew what talent means in this sport. Perhaps hard work is not worth mentioning in the face of talent, but at the moment, he has no other way.

Fortunately, my mother was gentle enough. When Brunson was crying, Sandra would take him to watch a baseball game, write words of encouragement on paper, and post it on his son's bedside. This seemingly divided family education allowed Brunson to form a unique spiritual core - the father's iron blood casts his tenacity, and the mother's gentleness taught him to use wisdom to relieve stress.

After entering Stevenson High School, Brunson gradually showed the results of hard training, but even so, he was only 1.75 meters tall, still controversial, especially his father's identity. Rick was already an assistant coach in the NBA at that time, so many people believed that Brunson got the main position by walking through the back door. In many away games, opponents would swear at him in the stands: "Without dad, you are nobody!", especially when he performed poorly, harsh ridicule filled the entire arena.

4 years, Brunson honed a big heart and could completely ignore the sounds outside the field. As his height gradually grew (finally 1.88 meters), his performance became more and more outstanding. He led the team to the state championship twice, with a total score of 2,568 points, ranking first in the team's history. Even in the entire Illinois, he could rank in the top ten. However, due to his average static talent, Brunson, who performed well, barely won a four-star rating.

Looking at the media reports, Brunson did not respond at all. He still followed the training plan left by his father and completed it on time and on time. A few months later, he stepped onto the campus of Villanova University with full of anger.

In his first year of college, Brunson was not the core of the team, and he averaged only 9.6 points per game, but his calmness left a deep impression on coach Wright, who believed that Brunson had the potential to become a commander. So from the second year, Brunson participated in every coaching team meeting of the team. He would put forward his own opinions and formulate multiple tactics with the coaching team that matched him, which also laid the groundwork for his later win.

The third year of college was Brunson's horn of counterattack. He averaged 18.9 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 4.6 assists, helping Villanova to the top for the second time in three years. In addition, Brunson also won almost all honors, the Wooden Award, the Naismith Award (American's Best Player), the Bob Cousey Award (Best Point Guard), the Final Four MOP, the Associated Press Player of the Year, etc. After the end of the season, Brunson's draft market rose sharply and was eventually picked up by the Mavericks at the 33rd pick, but like what he experienced in the past, Brunson was not valued at first.

"I have long been used to all this, high school and college, and I have no objection to this situation, because every adversity will make me stronger. Let those guys who only focus on their figure, go to hell." - Jaylen Brunson

As the point guard of the NCAA champion team, Brunson's basketball IQ is extraordinary. He is very clear about his ability and understands what changes he needs to make to base himself in the NBA.

In the first three seasons, Brunson has been accumulating energy and constantly polishing his skills. In order to make up for his lack of height, he included throwing shots in the arsenal, practicing 200 throws from different angles alone every day, and then apprenticed to Nash to learn his ball-handling skills and how to use the rhythm to tear the opponent's defense. In the 21-22 season, Brunson ushered in an outbreak. He seized the opportunity that Doncic could not play due to health management issues and played many famous scenes. In the playoffs, Brunson became the key man to save the team, averaging 21.6 points, 4.6 rebounds, 3.7 assists, a shooting percentage of 46.6%, and a three-point shooting percentage of 34.7%. Logically speaking, such performance should be able to get a considerable contract renewal, but the Mavericks unexpectedly let him go.

In the Mavericks' view, Brunson's functional attributes coincide with Doncic, and the team's salary space has long been burst. In the uncertain future, he dared not use high luxury tax to gamble. In this way, Brunson traveled east to the Knicks and received a four-year, $104 million contract..

Give a non-All-Star player a high salary of over 100 million yuan. The Knicks' operation attracted ruthless ridicule from his peers, but soon, Brunson made the group shut up.

Brunson hired the former trainer Chris Brickleley, who designed many offensive methods for Brunson in a targeted manner, such as increasing the proportion of mid-range shots, using strength and rhythm changes to force the opponent's No. 1 position, and then ended with Kobe's signature turnover jump shot. With the proportion of mid-range shots exceeding 40%, the shooting percentage can reach 51.2%.

In this era when the whole nation pursues three-pointers, Brunson is like a retrograde. He used the outdated technology in people's eyes to eliminate opponents after opponent, and helped the Knicks to enter the semi-finals for two consecutive years. This year, Bruns led the team to defeat the defending champion Celtics, allowing the New Yorkers to touch the floor of the division finals again after 25 years.

Brunson's bookshelf contains a book called "The Art of War" and the title page reads his father's words: "You can't choose height, but you can choose to be a giant." When the reporter asked him why he always smiled at critical moments, he pointed to the tattoo on his wrist - "Underdog" (counterattacker). From the ridiculed "relationship household" to the savior of Madison Gardens, Jaylen Brunson's story has never been about talent, but a fable about how to forge the "impossible" into a throne. As he said in the ESPN documentary, “My life has only two choices: either be buryed by questioning or build a ladder with them.”