Tyler Kolek’s breakout performance played a vital role in the New York Knicks’ 124-113 win over the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Cup Final, as he shouldered some of the ball-handling chores from Jalen Brunson.
Kolek posted a season-high 14 points, five rebounds, and five assists on 5-for-9 shooting from the field in 20 minutes. With last night’s win, the New York Knicks youngster will earn an additional $530,933 on top of his $2 million salary this year.
“He played big time,” Jalen Brunson said of Kolek via Jared Schwartz of the New York Post. “I’m very happy for him. Maybe a surprise to a bunch of people, but none of you see how hard this kid works. Just very happy for him and the way he played tonight. Helped us, for sure — we needed him. He works so hard, I’m very happy for him. This is big time for him.”
“If you’re a rookie, if you’re a young guy, if you appreciate the game, you should be looking at what he’s doing and how he’s finding his ability to get on the court and stay on the court,” Josh Hart continued. “And you should model yourself off of that.”
New York Knicks News: Mike Brown reflects on his team’s NBA Cup triumph
New York Knicks head coach Mike Brown was hyped after his team won. Before all of this, he was skeptical of the NBA Cup, but he admitted that he finally sees its value in its third iteration.
“During the course of the year, you try to find situations to put pressure on your group,” Brown stated via ESPN’s Vincent Goodwill. “This is a single-elimination tournament when you get to a certain point. Every game counts. There’s pressure on every game if you expect to be who you think you are.”
“That pressure is manufactured without you as a coach having to try to do it all the time,” he continued. “When you’re able to have success doing it, it breeds confidence in everybody within the organization. That can propel you come the right time when you’re in that environment to be able to handle the pressure because you’ve already been through it.”
