NBA Cup podiums usually produce the same gray wallpaper: praise the opponent, credit the defense, move on. The New York Knicks brought something else to Las Vegas.
After New York punched its ticket to the NBA Cup championship game, Josh Hart was asked to contextualize where Jalen Brunson belongs among the league’s best scorers. Hart smiled first, because everyone in the room knew what was coming. Then Brunson cringed, because he knew Hart was about to compliment him the only way Hart ever compliments him: by roasting him.
What followed was a masterclass in teammate comedy. Hart framed Brunson as the ultimate outlier, “barely” a six-foot guard, not a physical marvel, not an explosive athlete, and then flipped the setup into admiration, describing how Brunson manipulates defenses, sees angles, and “figures it out.” The punchline landed with Hart’s familiar running gag about Brunson’s “big head” meaning a “big brain,” capped by the line that made the clip go viral: inch for inch, Hart argued, Brunson is as good as anyone. Brunson tried to cut in more than once and couldn’t, alternating between disbelief and that unmistakable “are you really doing this right now?” look while Hart kept cooking.
James Edwards “Josh factoring in Jalen’s height, not the most athletic––”
Jalen “Jesus”
JE “…How many guys score better?”
Josh “He’s barely 6ft…not physically impressive”
JB “Ayo”
JH “But figures it out…obv big head, big brain…Inch for inch he’s the best”
JB 👀🤭
JH 🤭 pic.twitter.com/gn12FfA3ry
— New York Basketball (@NBA_NewYork) December 14, 2025
The reason the sequence hit isn’t just that it was funny. It’s that it felt authentic: two longtime friends, Villanova roots, Knicks stakes, and the kind of locker-room rhythm you can’t fake for cameras. In a tournament setting that’s still building its own traditions, the Knicks accidentally delivered one: a viral moment that sold both their personality and their chemistry.
It also landed because it attached itself to something real. Brunson had just authored a marquee performance in the NBA Cup spotlight, and Knicks coach Mike Brown used the same postgame setting to push a sharper message: Brunson deserves to be in the MVP conversation. Hart’s bit was comedy, but it was also a truth wrapped in jokes; the Knicks’ offense has a captain who keeps finding answers even when he doesn’t match the league’s typical physical template for a dominant scorer.
