Back to the New York Knicks Newsfeed

Leon Rose’s winning strategy: treat Jalen Brunson like family

Related Topics: Jalen Brunson, Leon Rose

Envision this as a movie scene: New York Knicks team president Leon Rose, softly lit in the smoky darkness of his office, slides a blank paper across his desk. Clad in a suit and a penciled-in mustache, Rose bears a passing resemblance to Vito Corleone of The Godfather. In fact, he is an actual godfather. His godson is the young man sitting opposite the table.

Don Leon whispers hoarsely, “Write the names. I’ll get them all for you.”

With a curl of a smile, Jalen Brunson taps the tip of his ballpoint against his tongue and proceeds to scribble out the name of every player on his championship teams at Villanova.