Donte on Jalen: “What he’s dealt with in the media of ‘He’s too small, he’s not a #1 option’…He doesn’t let anything bother him…Everybody in this locker room supports him…makes everybody around him better…He’s a leader of men…exactly what you need”
by SwellandDecay
4 Comments
[Tweet](https://x.com/NBA_NewYork/status/1792459066825961717)
He’s a leader alright
doesn’t shy away, learns from his mistakes, soaks up pressure and delivers
The face of the franchise, shiiiittt the face of the city
the other half of this clip is as interesting.
teams never schemed to stop donte when he was a bench player or the 4th/5th option as a starter. when your role expands and you’re suddenly the second option on a playoff-bound team, you get a ton of attention and teams go out of their way to make you uncomfortable. guys either hit a wall and get exposed as one-dimensional and predictable, or they adapt and develop a variety of counters. he absolutely did the latter, and if he carries those tools into next season as the 3rd option (he’s clearly ahead of og on offense, no?), with both brunson and randle getting doubles and schemed for, he could have an insanely efficient season and have extra energy to spend on defense. plus a full rotation and deuce’s emergence should mean 30 minutes a game instead of 40+.
definitely want jalen to retire as a knick. its great to see donte backing him too, i want him for the foreseeable future as well.