New York City was set alight with the cheers of a million fans the night of Saturday, June 13 when the New York Knicks brought home the NBA Finals Championship for the first time in 53 years.
The Knicks defeated the San Antonio Spurs 94-90, with the hotly contested game coming down to the very last minute, ending with a deafening “Knicks in Five!” cry throughout the city, and honors for none other than Jalen Brunson.
The Point Guard, 29, was named the MVP for the Finals, receiving a host of congratulatory messages from grateful New Yorkers and celebrity fans alike – including one Quinta Brunson.
The fellow Brunson, 36, took to her Instagram Stories to react to the news with a side-by-side snapshot of theirs from back in May, writing beside it: “Congrats to my cousin and the Knicks. What. A. Series.”
© InstagramWhich begs the question: are Quinta and Jalen actually related?
The simple answer: nope. The only relationship between the Emmy-winning actress and writer and the NBA star is their last name, although they do have a lot more in common than you’d think!
Both Quinta and Jalen grew up on the East coast, with the former born and raised in West Philadelphia and the latter in New Brunswick, New Jersey.
© Getty ImagesAnd, it turns out that both their fathers are also named “Rick,” although in Quinta’s case, Rick managed parking lots, while Jalen’s father is a former basketball player himself, now an assistant coach to the Knicks.
Plus, we know for sure that Quinta’s Abbott Elementary character Janine Teagues is definitely a basketball fan, dressing up for one of the show’s Halloween episodes as James Harden when he played for the Philadelphia 76ers, oversized jersey, fake beard and all.
Despite the notion of a relation, the pair only met for the first time at the 2026 Disney Upfront, with the Buzzfeed alum jokingly sharing some photos from the event on Instagram, including one in which she posed next to Jalen, writing: “Another fun #disneyupfront with friends and family (cousin @jalenbrunson1?),” poking fun at their same last name.
© Getty ImagesAlongside her congratulatory message for her “cousin,” Quinta also included a snapshot from her car of the outside of New York’s Madison Square Garden, including the lines of fans queuing up to not only get inside the venue, but also for the unofficial watch parties.
“Literally the most stressful series I’ve ever seen in my lifetime because I realllllly like both teams. But you deserve this New York,” she wrote.
Jalen himself was full of gratitude for the team’s hard-fought victory after the game, while accepting the Bill Russell Trophy with his father by his side. From the best of seven, the Knicks officially beat the Spurs 4-1.
© Instagram“It’s everything we ever dreamed of,” he simply told ESPN after the win, adding: “It’s why I came to New York.”
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