Brunson's Brilliance; The Big Quarterback Gamble

Some guys just know how to win.

Guys like Bill Russell. Michael Jordan. Tim Duncan. Kobe Bryant. Steph Curry.

And Jalen Brunson.

A man who has won championships at every level--an Illinois state championship in high school, a USA Basketball Under 19 World Cup, two NCAA titles at Villanova, and now the NBA crown.

Brunson steered the New York Knicks to the second round of the playoffs in his first two seasons and a conference finals last year. 

Saturday night he carried the Knicks to the NBA Championship with one of the greatest performances in league history.

He scored 45 of the Knick's 94 points, leading New York to its first title in 53 years. That 1973 championship team had seven NBA Hall of Famers--Walt Frazier, Willis Reed, Dave DeBusschere, Bill Bradley, Earl Monroe, Jerry Lucas and Phil Jackson. 

This one had Brunson. He made clutch shot after clutch shot, often over or under the Spurs' 7-4 behemoth Victory Wembanyama. He never lost his poise. He was always in control.

His team trailed, as usual, for most of the game, but he kept coming, kept making threes, mid range jumpers, and incredible twisting drives to the hoop, until his team claimed the lead with about three minutes left.

Brunson averaged 32.6 points per game in the finals against the most aggressive defense in the league.

Two years ago, he left $113 million on the table when he signed an extension, giving the Knicks enough capital to build a championship team by signing Karl Anthony Towns, Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby.

The shortest man on the court, generously listed at 6-2, a second round draft pick because he was "too small", Brunson now stands with the immortals of NBA basketball.

You Wanna Bet? Last week a judge in Texas granted a temporary restraining order that prevented the NCAA from permanently banning Texas Tech QB Brendan Sorsby for violating the association's gambling rules.

It was an absurd decision, but it pointed out once again the NCAA's incompetence and inability to enforce its own rules.

The NCAA is apparently the only sports governing body on earth that can't sideline a player for gambling on his sport. All Sorsby did was place 2900 bets for over $90,000, including at least 40 on Indiana when he was on the team there.

By comparison, two years ago, the NBA banned Raptors forward Jontay Porter for life after he'd bet on games and relayed inside information to gamblers. That ruling stuck.

The same year, Major League Baseball banned Padres infielder Tucupita Marcano for life after it found he'd placed 25 bets on the Pirates while playing for them. That ban also stuck.

So why can't the NCAA enforce anti-betting rules that are designed to protect the integrity of the games, i.e. to prevent its athletes from throwing games, shaving points, or providing inside information to gambling interests?

Aside from its historic incompetence in all areas of enforcement, the main reason is that the NCAA is structured differently than pro leagues.

The NCAA is an association of 1,000 plus schools whose membership votes to establish the rules. However, unlike the NBA and MLB, its athletes are not employees, and it has no collective bargaining agreement with its players.

Any ruling is subject to a legal challenge, and as we've seen over the years, the NCAA doesn't do well in courtrooms.

In reality, NCAA rulings are only binding if an athlete or his/her lawyer can't get a judge to toss them.

And whether it's a ruling on eligibility or penalties or amateurism, plenty of judges have been willing to overturn NCAA dictates.

So when Sorsby went to court hoping to regain his eligibility, he knew it was a pretty safe gamble.

The decision was followed by a rash of holier-than-thou chest-thumping and posturing by a host of conference commissioners and school presidents, athletic directors and coaches, all blaming Texas Tech for the judge's ruling.

Many threatened to stop playing Tech unless the school refused to play Sorsby. Others suggested kicking the school out of the Big 12.

Nebraska and Georgia said they "will not schedule any contests vs. Texas Tech in any sport." The Big 12 is apparently considering imposing its own sanctions on Sorsby and the school. The Big Ten is pondering a league-wide ban.

Texas Tech immediately responded by threatening to sue the Big 12 for levying any potential sanctions. The threats came from Tech mega-booster Cody Campbell and Texas Attorney General/Senate Candidate Ken Paxton, the second most corrupt politician in America.

Then this morning the Big 12 filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking to bar Texas Tech and Attorney General Paxton from preventing it from sanctioning Tech if Sorsby plays.

Dueling lawsuits. Not a good look.

Let me offer a couple of other reactions from the Inside Track.

First, with respect to Sorsby's addiction, what did people expect? Every major league is in bed with gambling interests. Every major league, including the NCAA, is sponsored by DraftKings or FanDuel, or both. Every major league uses current and former stars to promote gambling.

Players are going to gamble. It's that simple. And it's only going to get worse. Gambling has become a public health crisis among young American men, aided and abetted by the pro leagues and NCAA, all of whom encourage gambling during their game telecasts.

Second, despite all the criticism and wailing from coaches and athletic directors, almost all of them would've done the exact same thing and gone to court if they enticed a star QB to transfer for $4 million and then had him declared ineligible for gambling.

They're all hypocrites. 

As we've noted previously, no one in the NCAA really wants to be governed. No schools want the rules applied to them if it means losing a key player or going on probation.

We used to have men of character like Tom Hansen, Mike Slive, Jim Delany, Bob Bowlsby and John Swofford running the power conferences.

Now we have wheeler-dealers with TV and marketing backgrounds, like Tony Petitti and Brett Yormark, who are primarily focused on increasing media rights fees and the size of the fields in the College Football Playoff and March Madness, so more of their teams can get in.

The good of the sport has been forgotten. 

We used to watch young players develop and grow over several seasons, not look to transfer each year, chasing better NIL deals. Rivalries mattered. Tradition mattered. Loyalty mattered. In some places, even academics mattered.

Now it's all about money. Money from TV deals. Money from gambling sponsors. Money to attract transfers. Money to pay coaches. 

Money to gamble.