Kevin Durant urged the Knicks and Jalen Brunson to make the most of the organization’s historic championship win while they still can.
The Rockets star addressed the Knicks during an interview with Wall Street Journal Live in Cannes earlier this week — and the advice he would give Brunson in the face of new advertising and promotional opportunities.
“I would tell him to strike while the iron’s hot,” Durant said during the panel alongside Boardroom CEO Rich Kleiman and OBB and Bolded founder and CEO Michael D. Ratner. “This is a time that I don’t think New Yorkers or the Knicks are gonna get back. You gotta take advantage of this time right now, you don’t know if this will come around [again].
“It’s been 53 years. It could be another 53-year wait.”
Durant, 37, famously spurned the Knicks to sign with the crosstown Brooklyn Nets in free agency back in 2019, claiming “the cool thing right now is not the Knicks.”
The former MVP and two-time NBA champion later added that he “didn’t want to be the savior of the Knicks or New York.”
After three-and-a-half seasons in Brooklyn, Durant was traded to the Suns in February 2023, the same season Brunson debuted with the Knicks.
Durant has since joined his third team in four seasons, while the Brunson-led Knicks have become an Eastern Conference powerhouse — culminating this past season with an NBA championship.
Since the win, Brunson has become one of the most sought-after athletes, with his nearly $1,000 photo op at Fanatics Fest next month selling out, along with his trading card seeing a 1A-fueled surge.
Brunson himself has suggested he wants to nab a guest star role on “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” alongside his friend Mariska Hargitay.
“I would say take all opportunities and listen to them and see which ones you love,” Durant added. “I think Jalen has done such a great job of being him every single day and stepping up. His identity is just about grinding from the bottom and being somebody in New York City who made history in New York City.
“Right now is an important time for him and the Knicks and I feel like he’s gonna take full advantage of it.”
