Jalen Brunson Expresses the Virtue of Starting His Second Round Foundation

First-year New York Knicks player, Jalen Brunson has just hosted a charity golf tournament near his hometown in Illinois. The event was done to showcase and benefit his organization, Second Round Foundation. He started the foundation as a way to support the dreams of the youth through academics, sports, and outreach.

In an exclusive interview with People, he discusses his organization and the importance of being a role model for people who look up to him. He expressed the reason behind the name of the foundation by saying that Second Round’s name comes from “being drafted in the second round and always kind of being overlooked,” he said.

“I just wanted to give people, preferably the younger kids and younger adults, that mindset of no matter what people think or say about you, it’s all about how your mindset and how you attack every situation.”

He does know that there are younger people looking at him simply because he has made it to the NBA. There are some who share the same dream and he wants to show them that it’s a possibility for them to get there.

“Obviously, I play in the NBA, and it’s a lot of younger kids’ dreams to play in the NBA, but for me, my job here is to help you get that mindset. I think the biggest takeaway from this camp should be that your mindset going forward is to attack anything that you do with 110%.”

Outside of being a role model, he wants to stress the importance of keeping relationships as doing so is very important.

“Just keeping relationships and seeing how people have helped you and where you came from is so important. I want to be able to help people know that keeping relationships is important. You can do all this stuff for people you don’t know, but if you get to know these people it’s a totally different story.”

Brunson is currently getting himself game-ready for the upcoming FIBA World Cup which is taking place in Asia. The tournament starts in two weeks on Aug. 25 and will go through Sept. 10.

Jalen Brunson Expresses the Virtue of Starting His Second Round Foundation