Report: Jalen Brunson has been called racial slurs, had his family threatened by sports bettors

New York Knicks star Jalen Brunson revealed that he has regularly been the target of vile messages from sports bettors on social media.

“After every game, when the duties of that night are complete and Jalen Brunson has a chance to unwind, he opens his phone to dozens and dozens of messages on social media,” wrote The Athletic’s James L. Edwards III.

“It doesn’t matter if he scores 40 points or 20 points. It doesn’t matter if the New York Knicks win by 30 points, two points or lose. The bulk of the messages tend to be the same: They threaten him and his family, including his months-old daughter. They call him racial slurs. They demand money.

“Brunson could do what he’s paid to do: play well and win basketball games. And yet, the star guard has spent many postgame nights sifting through harsh messages from people who wager money — sometimes large sums — on things they can’t control.

“‘Genuinely threatened?’ Brunson asked himself, pondering for a moment, after the question was posed by The Athletic. ‘I’ve never felt genuinely threatened, but there has been some really disrespectful s— said. It’s a lot of people who don’t have profile pictures. There is part of me that has thought about airing them out, but s— always comes back around.'”

The popularization of sports betting has come with consequences. Brunson certainly isn’t the only one who has received hateful or threatening messages from angry sports bettors. Meanwhile, gambling has led to some integrity concerns around the NBA and other sports leagues.

Despite some of those issues, leagues like the NBA have partnerships with some sportsbooks, a reality that some fans see as potentially problematic. There’s also an argument to be made about the ethics of pushing gambling at all given its potential to become addictive and harmful for those who partake.

Brunson, for his part, is doing all he can to put together an admirable NBA career. Since coming over to the Knicks from the Dallas Mavericks, he has taken his game to new heights and become a legitimate star.

This season, he’s averaging 25.9 points, 7.5 assists and 2.8 rebounds per game while shooting 48.9 percent from the field and 39.7 percent from beyond the arc. He just earned his second straight All-Star nod for his efforts so far this season.

An All-Star last season, he also took home All-NBA Second Team honors and finished fifth in MVP voting.

The Knicks, thanks in part to Brunson, are in the mix in the Eastern Conference this season as they try to challenge teams like the Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics. New York is 35-18 through 53 games.

Last season and the campaign prior, the Knicks reached the second round of the playoffs before being eliminated. They will look to go on a deeper run this time around as they hunt for their first NBA Finals appearance since 1999 and their first NBA title since 1973.

Brunson evidently has to deal with messages that nobody should ever have to receive. Hopefully, him speaking out about the issue will bring some attention to it. He will look to remain focused on his journey with the Knicks in the meantime.