The Origin Story of Jalen Brunson and Justin Bieber’s Music
“Sorry” has helped Brunson win a lot of games.
When you think of pre-game rituals, you normally think of an aggressive act that’s meant to prepare you for war.
For instance, in ancient times, warriors would pound on drums and scream and sacrifice a big animal for the gods to favour them in battle.
And when you think of how Jalen Bruson plays, you would think that his pregame ritual was similar to this, where it involves some type of act that amps him up.
I mean, he’s a dog on the court. He’s physical and plays so hard, and is constantly getting hit and hitting -sorry, bumping- other players.
So, you would think that he listens to hard rap and does some type of Haka before stepping on the court.
But nope.
Brunson apparently jams to the Biebs before going out onto the hardwood to battle giants.
In a recent interview on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Brunson admitted to listening to Justin Bieber before each game.
He and Fallon were talking about game day routines and he told the host,
”The one thing that’s a little obscure is I listen to Bieber before I run out… Every game.”
Fallon then asked him if he listens to the same song every time and Brunson said, “No, I shuffle.”
Brunson went on to give the origin story:
”It started in college. So, I went to Villanova and my sister put on the ‘Purpose’ album. It came out in 2015-ish. And so, yeah, the album is amazing. I’m not gonna lie… So, I’m going into the game and I’m shuffling music, and one of the songs on the album is, like, playing as I’m going into an NCAA tournament game. So, I listened to it and we ended up winning and it happened again.
“I was like, this might be a thing. And then we kept winning and winning, and then we won the national championship. And so my freshman year… that happened. And then my junior year, same thing -we won it again. So, I was like, ‘Oh, I got to keep this [streak] alive.”
You may think it’s unmasculine to listen to pop music before an athletic event, that it saps all of your warrior energy. But this is no different than me listening to Ariana Grande as I posterize defenders in NBA 2K with “in your face” posters and giggle because my created player’s nuts are all on their big heads.
Okay, it’s completely different. But what I’m trying to get at is that this ritual has helped Brunson become one of the best point guards in the NBA today.
He was recently voted in to be an NBA All-Star for the first time in his six-year career and is constantly getting MVP chants in Madison Square Garden.
His team, the New York Knicks, also has a good chance of making it to the NBA Finals, which would be the first time since 1999 when the Knicks’ Patrick Ewing, Allan Houston, Latrell Sprewell and Larry Johnson lost to the San Antonio Spurs’ David Robinson, Tim Duncan, Sean Elliot and Avery Johnson.
So yeah, what’s a little bit of embarrassment if it’s going to help you be one of the greatest in your field?
Nothing.
Brunson is currently averaging career-highs in both points and assists, with 27.8 and 6.5, respectively.