“I Can’t Live My Dream?”: Jalen Brunson Urges Fans to Be Concerned About His Injury During His WWE SmackDown Appearance

After impressing the basketball world during the 2023-24 season, Jalen Brunson surprised fans when he appeared on WWE SmackDown. While Brunson seemed to enjoy living his dream, fans were more concerned about his injured hand. In his podcast on the same topic, the Knicks guard made it clear that his hand was perfectly fine and that certain moves were only performed for dramatic purposes.

Social media was abuzz when Jalen Brunson appeared on the WWE circuit staring down his opponent, Tyrese Haliburton, from the 2023 Eastern Conference Semifinals. Many fans seemed to appreciate the humor. However, a large group of people couldn’t help but notice that the All-Star appeared to be in slight pain when they took a quick look at his hand.

During the latest episode of the Roommates Show, where he discussed the unique opportunity he was given alongside Haliburton, Brunson couldn’t have been more clear in his update on his hand injury.

“My sister sends me a screenshot of a tweet… looking at my bent hand. So it was just heartbreak, a bunch of heartbreaks. Everyone was just saying ‘just stay home, stop playing, wrap them in bubble wrap’. I was like ‘can I not live my dream?’”

To be fair, his benefactors’ concerns are valid. As can be seen in the embed below, the southpaw appeared to injure his hand when he entered the ring.

But fans will now be relieved to hear that it was all an act. After a successful surgery in May, Brunson continues to recover.

Jalen Brunson injured his hand in Game 7 of the Knicks-Pacers series

During the Knicks’ injury-plagued 2023 postseason run, Jalen Brunson suffered a broken left hand. In what would prove to be the team’s final game of the playoffs, Brunson injured his hand in the third quarter of Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals series between the Knicks and Pacers.

Brunson’s horrific injury resulted in a huge 109-130 loss to the New York team, which ultimately caused the series to be lost. The pain limited the former Wildcat to a playoff-low 17 points.

About three days after the incident, the organization announced that their star had undergone successful surgery to repair his left hand. According to the team’s statements, Jalen would not be re-evaluated for about 6-8 weeks (sometime in mid-July).

With the 2024-25 season still almost three months away, Brunson still has plenty of time to continue caring for his hand and get back to 100% fitness.