Knicks' Jalen Brunson only gets starstruck for one celebrity at MSG, and it's not who you'd expect
Madison Square Garden's Celebrity Row is usually packed with big names, from Spike Lee and Ben Stiller to Kylie Jenner and Bad Bunny. But New York Knicks star Jalen Brunson only gets starstruck by one person: Mariska Hargitay.
'I've never been like super, super starstruck. I saw her and I was like, 'Oh, (wow),'' Brunson confessed during a May 4 episode of The Roommates Show, the podcast he co-hosts with teammate Josh Hart. 'Then, the first time we met, it was awesome, we talked and everything.'
Hargitay, who has played Captain Olivia Benson on Law & Order: SVU since 1999, even celebrated his All-Star selection in February with a heartfelt video message: 'One captain to another.' Brunson was floored. 'That's my favorite person ever,' he gushed.
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Turns out, SVU was a big part of Brunson's upbringing. 'I remember my dad always watching the show and you just hear the iconic (theme song) 'don-don' all the time,' Brunson recalled, referring to his father, Rick Brunson, a former NBA player and current Knicks assistant coach.
He got so hooked on the show that during his early NBA days in Dallas, that 'At one point when I got into the league, I wanted to restart. So I started from Season 1 and watched all the way through… I watched it before I took my nap. That's when I was in Dallas. I've always loved that show.'
Just in a September interview with Interview Magazine, Hargitay said, '(My son) August and I were at a Knicks game, and after the game, Jalen Brunson beelined over to talk to me.'
'The next time we went, Jalen wanted to meet with me, and he gave me a jersey and signed it… He recently, I think in People, said that I was his favorite.'
Even fellow Knicks superfans like Ben Stiller have joked, 'The love that Mariska Hargitay gets from (Brunson) postgame is the envy of every other Knicks celebrity fan,' on a podcast.
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'I expect to see (Stiller) there all the time, but this is her first or second game this year… I'm just going to say hi and go,' Brunson laughed it off, to which, Stiller quipped, 'I guess I got to come to less games,' prompting Hargitay to chime in, 'Make him appreciate you more.'
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