Knicks’ Jalen Brunson gets hilarious ‘nepotism’ stray at ESPYs

Jalen Brunson has cemented himself as a New York sporting legend after he led the Knicks to a championship in 2026 — snapping a 53-year title drought for the franchise. Brunson has even prompted talks as to whether or not he’s the greatest Knicks player of all-time, and his efforts this past season were validated during the 2026 ESPY Awards, winning the Best Male Athlete award.

Brunson scored 45 points to lead the Knicks to a 94-90 victory in Game 5 of the 2026 NBA Finals, and he was cold-blooded all throughout the playoffs, making him a deserved winner of the acclaim. But as things go in the ESPYs, not even the winner of one of the biggest awards of the night are immune to jokes from the host of the show.

The Knicks star caught a stray from comedian Marcello Hernandez during the awards show, saying that in winning a title with his dad Rick Brunson as one of the assistant coaches for his team, he made nepotism look cooler by virtue of his race.

“Jalen Brunson, Rick Brunson’s son, got to win an NBA championship with his dad as the coach — which proves one thing which is that nepotism, like most things, is way cooler when a black guy does it,” Hernandez said, via Oh No He Didn’t on X.