New York Knicks captain Jalen Brunson is issuing a message to anyone still criticizing Taylor Swift’s appearance at the 2026 NBA Finals.
“I just want to say something to the Swifties: She’s a really good one,” Brunson, 29, said in a postgame interview on Saturday, June 13, after winning the NBA championship. “Cut her some slack. It’s all good, I promise.”
Brunson led the Knicks to victory 94-90 over the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday, clinching the NBA Finals title for the first time in decades. The Knicks won four out of five games in the series.
Swift, 36, attended Game 4 at New York City’s Madison Square Garden on Wednesday, June 10, where she sat courtside with pals Este Haim, Alana Haim and Mariska Hargitay to see the Knicks’ down-to-the-wire win.
“I got home and was like, ‘You gotta stop screaming, you’re screaming too much, you’re screaming instead of talking, you’re too excited,” Swift said in her Songwriters Hall of Fame speech the next night, revealing she ended up yelling during “100 percent” of the game. “Then, I got to witness the amazing performances I saw tonight, and I just kept screaming and I never stopped screaming and [my raspy voice] is what you get. I make no apologies for that: I’ve had a blast.”
While Swift had undoubtedly the time of her life at the NBA Finals matchup, her attendance initially raised eyebrows.
Este Haim, Taylor Swift and Mariska Hargitay attend Game 4 of the 2026 NBA Finals between the San Antonio Spurs and the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday, June 10. Al Bello/Getty Images
“She’s not a Knicks fan. Get out of here, girl,” Knicks analyst Monica McNutt was caught saying on a hot mic ahead of Wednesday’s tip-off.
McNutt, 36, later clarified her remarks.
“Even if you call out race being super peace of mind, I’m just making an observation of what is happening,” the broadcaster said on the Friday, June 12, episode of The Breakfast Club. “Quickly people were like, ‘Oh, you’re racist.’ No, I’m kind of stating a fact. But we have had to live in the fact and it makes everybody else uncomfortable. I didn’t even remember saying it, y’all.”
McNutt continued, “It was just like, ‘Oh girl, get out of here. I ain’t seen you all year.’ But words are powerful, the way the story gets told. All of these things come into play.”
Swift has not addressed the backlash, though has received plenty of support from Brunson, his family and his teammates.
“She was there with her custom T-shirts. They’re all matching,” Brunson’s wife, Ali Marks Brunson, exclusively told Us Weekly earlier this week, referring to Haim’s DIY Knicks merch. “Sitting next to Mariska, how amazing is that? That’s another dynamic duo right there. It was fun. She was really in it. She’s a true fan.”
Josh Hart’s wife, Shannon Hart, also told Us that it was “really cool” to see Swift support the Knicks.
“Just seeing how into the game she was, that was really cool,” Shannon, 31, quipped in June ahead of Game 5. “Jumping up and down, hugging each other. [By the end], your heart’s beating, you’re in disbelief. It went from sitting there and everyone’s quiet to now everyone’s screaming. Even after the game, the guys were like, ‘How did that just happen?’ They were in disbelief and they were on the court. It was pretty insane.”
Swift, however, wasn’t present for Game 5 on Saturday, instead catching a Broadway performance of Oh Mary! with fiancé Travis Kelce.
