Jalen Brunson opens up about being USA's leader

Being the captain of a team full of stars is presumably hard, but Jalen Brunson is proving that he is the rightful and bonafide leader of Team USA.

Despite the early doubts, the team has responded with an undefeated slate in the FIBA World Cup, along with a string of convincing victories.

Brunson’s leadership has been felt and imprinted all over these games.

“I just try my best to be myself and just making sure that everyone’s on the same page. You gotta know your audience, you gotta know who’s who and how people perceive things,” Brunson said on the type of leadership he brings.

This understanding has kept each member committed to winning, no matter how high or low usage one gets.

“I think it’s just my job to make sure everyone’s on same the page. Like you said, we got a lot of alphas, we got a lot of guys who just wanna win.”

Across four games, three different leading scorers have emerged: Paolo Banchero, Austin Reaves, and Anthony Edwards.

Brunson also praised Edwards who has been their leading scorer in back-to-back games, and agreed with assistant coach Erik Spoelstra’s recent comparison of him with Dwyane Wade.

”Yeah, in the way they both approach the game. Both athletic. The way they attack the game from all angles. It’s very apparent. I mean, Ant is still what? 22? He’ll have a hell of a career.”

On sharing point guard duties with Tyrese Haliburton

One could argue that this squad has the most dynamic point guard rotation in the tournament with Brunson leading the way and Haliburton electrifying the second unit. Both play on a different pace, but are equally effective on the floor.

“It helps a lot. Two different play styles, but both very effective. Sometimes I pick it up every now and then. Sometimes he knows how to slow it down. He’s great. The things he does on the court, it’s fun to watch,” Brunson commented.

Tyrese Haliburton, of course, is more than capable of holding his own against anybody in the league. He has proven it in the past NBA season with the Indiana Pacers as he averaged 20.7 points and 10.7 assists with an All-Star selection to boot.

“Truly, I’m not trying to teach him anything. He’s proven that he’s a great basketball player. We’re just learning off each other. He does things differently than I do and I do things different than he does. Our mindset is just to win. I mean, I don’t really have to teach him anything. He already knows a lot. He’s a great player. That’s just who he is,” Brunson acknowledged.

Haliburton has also embraced his backup role on the team and absorbed Brunson’s influence and mentorship.

“He’s been a winner his all career. Just being around him is a lot of fun.”

Brunson on his own had a fantastic season with the Knicks. In his first year as a lead NBA point guard, he averaged 24 points and 6.2 assists, and along with Julius Randle, brought back the Knicks to the playoffs for only the second time in ten seasons.

“Having a great season, individually it’s great. But the goal is to continue to win and get to the finals and do things like that. I’m using it as motivation. If you win, it’s a great season, if not, you have work to do. So there’s always work to do with how I approach the game," Brunson added.

With the way things have been rolling, Team USA looks like a well-oiled machine from afar.

However, when asked how far away they are from being the ideal team they want to be, he had a surprising answer.

“Far. A lot of things to work on. I know you can ask the question, ‘you won by 50, how do you get even better?’ We have a lot of ways we can continue to get better. A lot of good teams out there, we just gotta continue to keep improving,” Brunson said.

Jalen Brunson and Team USA look to continue their undefeated run against Lithuania on Sunday at the Mall of Asia Arena.

—JKC, GMA Integrated News