The NBA has cleared the Knicks of wrongdoing after a probe into the team’s promotion of assistant coach Rick Brunson, The Post has learned.
The league was looking into whether Brunson’s pay raise this season was related to his son Jalen taking a team-friendly deal on a contract extension, thereby violating salary-cap rules, an accusation the Knicks recently categorized as “offensive” and “harassment.”
Rick Brunson was promoted during the offseason after former associate head coach Johnnie Bryant departed to take the same title under new coach Kenny Atkinson with the Cavaliers. SNY first reported that the NBA’s investigation was closed.
‘‘In response to the rumored NBA investigation into Rick Brunson’s promotion, Brunson took Johnnie Bryant’s place and assumed the same salary as Bryant. It’s offensive that anyone would claim Rick didn’t deserve the promotion,” MSG Sports said in a statement on Nov. 18. “Rick has done a tremendous job and will continue to do so.
“We see this as more harassment of the Knicks due to our opposition to certain NBA matters.”
Jalen Brunson signed a four-year contract extension worth $156 million in July, about $114 million less than the maximum amount he could have signed for if he had waited until the summer of 2025.
Rick Brunson, who played three seasons for the Knicks as part of a nine-year NBA career, joined Tom Thibodeau’s coaching staff in 2022, ahead of Jalen Brunson’s signing as a free agent.
“He’s more than qualified for that position,” Jalen Brunson said on Nov. 20. “He’s a person who has been around the NBA for a long time, who has been around [Tom Thibodeau] for longer than he’s been around the NBA. I think he understands the business, I think he understands the game, I think he understands the head coach.
“So he’s more than qualified. Look at the way he’s taught me and raised me and how I’ve seen him impact others in all different levels of basketball — high school, college, pros.”
The NBA ruled in December of that year that the Knicks broke league rules “governing the timing of this season’s free agency discussions.” The team was docked its 2025 second-round pick for the violation.
— Additional reporting by Stefan Bondy
