Jalen Brunson pulled a Rowdy Roddy Piper during his team’s playoff game on Thursday.
The New York Knicks star Brunson came under fire for a controversial moment in the first quarter of Game 3 against the Detroit Pistons. Brunson was attempting to contest a three-pointer by Pistons guard Tim Hardaway Jr. and ended up poking Hardaway in the eye.
Here is the video of the play (which ultimately resulted in a flagrant 1 foul on Brunson).
Brunson drew heavy criticism for the play, especially when other angles of the eye poke circulated online. The angles appeared to show Brunson going out of his way to make the poking motion on Hardaway.
Making matters even worse is that Brunson and Hardaway used to be teammates. They played together on the Dallas Mavericks from 2019-22, including a Western Conference Finals run in 2022.
Hardaway went on to hit all three ensuing free throws and also made a three-pointer on the following inbounds (since a flagrant foul results in both free throws and possession for the aggrieved team). Thus, it was a six-point possession for the Pistons and some karmic justice for Brunson in the eyes of some.
The two-time All-Star Brunson has already become an unpopular figure during his team’s first-round series against the Pistons. That is largely because of his incessant flopping, which has drawn complaints from both fans and the Detroit players themselves. Now Brunson is drawing more criticism thanks to an eye poke that was straight out of the book of Draymond Green.
