nba finals NBA New York Knicks Barack Obama has all the love for Knicks and ‘king of New York’ Jalen Brunson By Andrew Battifarano Published June 24, 2026, 9:04 p.m. ET See more of our coverage in your search results.
Add The New York Post on Google The Knicks, a team good enough to get multiple presidents talking.
Already praised plenty by Donald Trump after breaking their 53-year NBA title drought, New York, OG Anunoby and Jalen Brunson were all praised by Barack Obama during his appearance on the “All the Smoke” podcast.
Anunoby became one of the heroes of the Knicks’ NBA Finals win over the Spurs thanks in no small part to his last-second tip-in during Game 4’s 29-point comeback at Madison Square Garden.
“I’m trying to think of a better series from somebody who’s never been an All-Star, and it’s hard to think of one, right?” Obama said of Anunoby. “Where, through the whole playoffs, he was just a rock.”
Anunoby averaged 20.1 points and 6.3 rebounds across 17 playoff games as one of the catalysts in the Knicks run.
The former commander in chief, however, didn’t keep his praise to just Anunoby, however, as he listed all the key attributes of Brunson that led him to became NBA Finals MVP.
“It’s the toughness and endurance and mental fortitude of that guy,” Obama said. “You just felt like, ‘I’m going to keep coming and I’m not going to doubt myself and not going to let my team doubt myself.’ And for a second-round draft pick, who was a champion, who was a winner, you didn’t see it coming.”
After comparing Brunson’s run from college to NBA stardom to Steph Curry’s from Davidson to the Warriors, Obama said the Knicks guard had exactly the right attribute to become a winner.
“A cliche, but that dude has the heart of a champion,” Obama said. “You can see, just watching him with his dad [Rick Brunson] at the end of the game and kind of what that meant, all the work they must’ve put in. All those years, all that commitment — real proud of him. And I know he’ll never have to pay for a meal again in New York. … He’s the king of New York right now.”
Jalen Brunson reacts after he sinks a 3-pointer over Victor Wembanyama during the Knicks’ Game 4 win over the Spurs en route to an eventual NBA title. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post The comments come nine days after Trump heaped praise on owner James Dolan and the Knicks for their win on Truth Social.
“What incredible playoff wins we have all witnessed, especially the last four — Maybe the greatest in the history of basketball,” Trump wrote.
Dolan told WFAN last week that the Knicks would visit the White House, becoming the first NBA team to visit Trump during either of his two terms.
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Brunson, in an interview with New York magazine published Wednesday, said he and the team have not discussed a visit to the nation’s capital.
“We haven’t discussed it,” Brunson said. “But as a team, we’ll discuss it and we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.”
