Jalen Brunson’s Mother Speaks on Helping Him Grow Into Leadership

Jalen Brunson is now an NBA champion and multi-time All-NBA point guard, and while it’s easy to give him and his former NBA father the credit for his success, his mom played a role in his hard-earned wins, too. Speaking to CBS Mornings, Jalen's mother, Sandra, spoke on the role she played in her son's basketball career. 

“I told him, as a leader, he has to understand that everyone has a job to do. And every one of his teammates has to feel comfortable in their role and believe in their role, no matter what it is,” Sandra explained. She also said that she understood her role. 

“To give him some words of encouragement, to put what he’s doing in perspective, you know?” she says. “It’s a big game, but it’s not the end of the world. It’s basketball.”

A former classmate and teammate of Kobe Bryant’s sister Sharia, Sandra was a Division I volleyball player herself first, and a competitor in her own right at Temple. That’s also where she met future NBA player Rick Brunson. He also played basketball. He’s now an assistant coach on the Knicks bench, coaching their son.

“[The volleyball] taught me a lot about myself,” Sandra said. “It really opened my eyes to possibilities.”

She continued to pour into her son, even after he didn’t get drafted until the second round of the 2018 NBA draft, taken at 33 by the Dallas Mavericks. Sandra turned it into the foundation of their family philanthropy, the Second Round Foundation.

“The foundation was born out of Jalen’s journey,” Sandra explained. “The 33rd pick is in the second round. I wanted him to understand that just because he wasn’t viewed as a top 10 pick in the NBA didn’t mean that he couldn’t succeed.”

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