Jalen Brunson’s New York takeover is rolling right into Saturday Night Live.
The Knicks captain, fresh off a 2026 NBA championship run that ended a 53-year drought, will host the premiere of SNL’s 52nd season on September 26, with musical guest Katseye. For Brunson, it’s another high-profile stop in a summer that has already been stacked with New York-stage moments.
He and teammate Josh Hart - teammate, but totally not best friend - kicked things off in mid-June by throwing ceremonial first pitches at Yankee Stadium after the title win. Then came mid-July, when Brunson picked up ESPY awards for Best NBA Player, Best Championship Performance and Best Athlete in Men’s Sports. The Knicks swept every nomination they had.
That run of attention has only reinforced what the championship already made clear: Brunson is now one of the city’s biggest stars. He took over as the league’s Finals MVP during a playoff march that featured huge deficits and record-setting comebacks, and the old “not a No. 1 option” talk has been buried under the celebration.
The SNL booking puts him in notable company, too. Last season’s opener was hosted by six-time Grammy Award winner Bad Bunny, and NBC Universal said that episode was the most-watched of the season on Peacock. It also produced the most-viewed sketch across social platforms from Season 51.
Brunson, who has said he’s ready to move past the championship celebration, has already shown he’s a Bad Bunny fan. After the announcement, he posted: “Thank you Benito”
WFAN’s Evan Roberts and Tiki Barber were already gaming out the possibilities on their weekday radio show, wondering whether Hart might pop up in a sketch or at least the monologue. Roberts also said he wouldn’t be surprised if OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges ended up involved, too.
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The challenge is straightforward even if the path is not: New York has a crowded wing picture, and every practice rep in training camp and every possession in preseason will carry added weight for Dadiet. For a young player in his spot, the margin for error is thin, and the Knicks will be watching closely to see whether he can force his way into the conversation before the rotation decisions start to harden. [Read more 🡒]
Knicks Are Suddenly Counting On Mohamed Diawara More Than Expected
Mohamed Diawara did not come into the summer looking like a central piece of the Knicks regular-season plan, but the way the roster is shaping up has changed that quickly. As the team works toward finalizing its 14th roster spot, Diawaras development has taken on added weight because the Knicks want him to grow into a versatile second-year option who can help in more than one place.
With Andre Drummond now in the mix and wing depth still thin, the need for Diawara to handle both wing duties and some center rotation responsibilities is becoming harder to ignore. For a team trying to keep its lineup flexible while sorting through the rest of the roster, his progress may end up mattering more than expected over the course of the season. [Read more 🡒]