Knicks guard Jalen Brunson hosts Saturday Night Live with teammates in cameo roles
Jalen Brunton hosted the season-52 premiere of Saturday Night Live, featuring appearances by several New York Knicks players, and became the first basketball player to host the show since 2007.
New York Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson served as host for the season-52 premiere of Saturday Night Live. During his opening monologue, he took questions from teammates Karl-Anthony Towns, Josh Hart, OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges, who later joined him on stage.
Brunson is the fifth basketball player ever to host the program and the first since LeBron James in 2007. He entered the appearance after a 2025-26 campaign in which he helped New York win its first NBA championship in 53 years, defeating the San Antonio Spurs in the finals.
The three-time All-Star posted a regular-season average of 26.0 points and increased his output in the playoffs to 28.4 points, 6.1 assists and 1.2 steals per game, shooting 46.5 percent from the field, 36.3 percent from three-point range and 84.6 percent from the free-throw line. He was named Eastern Conference Finals MVP and Finals MVP.