Jalen Brunson's Dad Told Mike Brown to 'Shut the Hell Up' as Knicks Were 'Bitching' Too Much at Refs

New York Knicks assistant coach Rick Brunson had quite the message for head coach Mike Brown and the rest of the team during Wednesday's Game 1 of the 2026 NBA Finals against the San Antonio Spurs.

"We were all bitching too much at the officials. Rick Brunson was great," Brown told reporters after the 105-95 victory. "He told me to shut the hell up and he told the rest of the team to be quiet and leave the officials alone. It was great of him because we were all kind of losing our minds."

The comments were particularly notable since Rick Brunson's son, Jalen, screamed at Scott Foster following a no-call in the second quarter:

The approach to stop focusing on the officials clearly worked, as the Knicks outscored the Spurs by 10 points in the fourth quarter with Jalen Brunson taking over in crunch time with a critical three-pointer and pull-up jumper in the lane.

Each team was called for 23 fouls during the game, so it wasn't as if there was a glaring discrepancy in the way things were being officiated. The Spurs shot more free throws at 25-18, but even that wasn't a massive difference.

Knicks-Spurs Highlights

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Brown's comments were also a somewhat under-the-radar way to make it known he and the team were not happy with the officiating without risking a fine.

Whether that will make a difference in Friday's Game 2 remains to be seen, but it wouldn't be a surprise if there was even less complaining in that one after Rick Brunson's advice seemed to work in Game 1.