Jalen Brunson was asked if he is Santa Claus.
“I am Santa,” the New York Knicks captain joked. “I haven’t gained Santa’s weight yet though. Not yet. Soon though”
Knicks fans want him to keep that weight off. Not only through the holiday season, but through the NBA season, which they hope ends with Brunson giving them their greatest gift of all: the team’s first championship in over 50 years.
But he recently resembled Santa in other ways – by surprising children in need with items on their holiday wish lists as part of Garden of Dreams Week.
That included Isaiah Lewis, a 16-year-old from New York who has been grieving the recent death of his mother. Lewis, who has since been residing with his grandfather, said he thought he was being taken to a party when he instead was brought to the Knicks training facility in Westchester earlier this month.
Inside was a locker stall with the family’s name on it and a stack of wrapped presents. Brunson then walked in to greet the family and hand out the gifts.
“I was like, ‘No way!’ I thought it was like a joke or something,” Lewis said. “I thought it was like early Christmas or something.”
Lewis, a techie and gamer who hopes to have a career in cyber security, received a laptop, keyboard, gaming center and other gifts.
“He was so happy, he even said to me, ‘It’s the happiest day of my life,’” his grandfather, Alfred Philbert said. “It means a lot to me because knowing that he lost his mom…It was a pleasure seeing him happy.”
Brunson has been making fans happy on and off the court throughout the holiday season.
The Knicks star, who guided the team to an NBA Cup championship on Tuesday, signed jerseys and posed for photos with the six families he met through the Garden of Dreams Adopt-A-Family program and SCO Family of Services, which partnered with Brunson’s non-profit organization Second Round Foundation.
Brunson gave Salim Tamang, a 14-year-old Knicks fan whose family moved from Nepal to Queens, AirPods and Nike sweatpants.
“I couldn’t say nothing to him because I was really shocked at that point,” Tamang said. “I had no words.”
He said his older sister Salina received makeup, and his 5-month-old sister Amaira got baby clothes.
Tamang also received the envy of his friends.
“I posted on my story and then they were just like, ‘Yo, you met Jalen Brunson?! How?’” he said. “It was really great. I hope I will see him again maybe..or his whole team.”
The 12th annual Garden of Dreams week also included two Make-A-Wish kids being named honorary coach and honorary Knick for the night, former New York Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist holding a meet-and-greet with a 2-year-old born with a rare congenital heart defect and auto-immune disease, the Rockettes providing a private dance lesson to a 12-year-old with cancer, and other experiences for young people in need.
And Brunson still might have more presents to deliver…like a slimmer version of Santa.
“Do we get free tickets to the game?” Lewis’ grandfather asked him.
“You want free tickets to the game?” Brunson said. “We’ll make that happen.”
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