Jalen Brunson is getting real about death threats from fans

Jalen Brunson talks about receiving death threats.

The New York Knicks spitz shares his experience about the negative messages he received Graham Gano’s recent comments are killing the New York Giants about the DMs he received after fans’ bets didn’t cash out. Unfortunately, this is a common experience among professional athletes.

“It definitely crossed the line a few times. Actually, I would say more than a few times,” he told Sports Illustrated of Gano’s recent comments. “They said some pretty twisted s**t.”

Brunson shared that he has received some hateful messages and that while athletes are used to criticism from fans, these messages go beyond snide remarks.

“It’s hard. I really don’t wish that on anyone,” he added. “I really don’t understand why people think it’s ok to press send when the s**t is hateful.”

However, Brunson said his support system is vital to him, ignoring fans who want to send harassing messages.

“I try not to let the world see it because people don’t care about your problems,” he continued. “But when my family is around, I’m allowed to be vulnerable. I have a very close circle that I turn to when I start to have doubts, or start to get upset or see things like that.”

“The way I was brought up, I use those things and try to make something positive out of them. And that’s a credit to my parents,” he said.

Brunson signed with the Knicks in 2022 and led the franchise to their first conference finals since 2000 during the 2024-25 season. The Knicks lost to the Indiana Pacers in 2000 and also fell to the franchise again last season in the Finals.

The Knicks star shared with his teammate and co-host of The Roommate Show podcast, Josh Hart, about where he sees the team right now.

“I think we’ve got a long way to go to get back to where we want to be. And I actually like that because it’s like a new focus for us,” Brunson said (21:28) in an episode that aired last month. “We’re not going back to where we were last year, it’s like a whole new journey. It’s really easy to say, ‘Okay, let’s get back to the conference finals. That’s our goal.’ No, our goal is to get better every day. Especially with this new regime, these new schemes, this new everything. It’s like a complete reset.”

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So far, the Knicks have started the 2025-26 season well, winning six games and losing three. The next game for the Knicks is against the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday, November 10.