On Saturday, Sep. 26, 2026, Jalen Brunson hosted Saturday Night Live (SNL) for the first time, hot on the heels of leading the New York Knicks to their first championship in 53 years.
Of course, the Studio 8H crowd ate everything he did up, including having the rest of the Knicks' starting five (Karl-Anthony Towns, OG Anunoby, Mikal Bridges, and, yes, Josh Hart) join him during his opening monologue.
Overall, it was a fun episode of the show, highlighted by another great performance from Jeremy Culhane as Tucker Carlson as he rated the summer's blockbuster movies during the Weekend Update.
The show smartly played to Brunson's strengths as an athlete, but multiple showed his range (only about four of the 10 segments or sketches involved him being a basketball player). His episode wasn't as great as someone like Peyton Manning's, but it set a standard for modern athletes hosting the show.
10. “Old Friend”
“Old Friend” is the first of two sketches during Brunson's episode to tackle the idea of people coming out of the woodwork once you become famous.
Needless to say, “Old Friend” is the worse of the two. The other one, “Young Rell's Crew,” was cut for time, which is unfathomable.
In “Old Friend,” Brunson plays himself. He is approached by a man who claims to be his third-grade basketball coach (played by Kenan Thompson).
The “picture” Thompson shows Brunson is the best part of the sketch, but the rest falls flat. An adult film actress and someone posing as his dad also approach Brunson before they ransack the Knicks' locker room.
9. “Shark Tank: Respectacles”
SNL is at its best when parodying commercials or real shows. The parody of Shark Tank had its moments, with Ben Marshall and Jeremy Culhane pitching “Respectacles,” glasses that sound an alarm whenever staring at a woman's chest.
Two of the Sharks pass, but Brunson's character is the only one who comes around. The standout was James Austin Johnson, who does a hilarious impression of Kevin O'Leary (aka Mr. Wonderful), including a subtle nod to his role in Marty Supreme.
8. “Men's Support Group”
A tale as old as time, “Men's Support Group” is an SNL sketch with a clever enough premise that goes far too long. The joke is that six men go to a support group because their partners were brought on stage during one of Chris Brown and Usher's shows.
Sure, a funny punchline, but the four-minute sketch goes way too long before ending anticlimactically with Marcello Hernandéz joking, “Usher Raymond dry-humped my pregnant wife so hard she had triplets. When they came out, they didn't cry. They just went, ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah.' And I was like, ‘No.'” before Thompson says, “D**n you, Usher!” while waving his fist.
The conclusion felt like an improv bit ended once the suggestions ran dry. The idea was good, but it wasn't good enough to save a four-minute sketch.
7. “Dream Academy”
The most topical sketch of the night was “Dream Academy,” thanks to Katseye being the episode's musical guest. The group was discovered through Netflix's Dream Academy, and SNL parodied the competition series to hilarious results.
What holds it back from being ranked higher is Brunson's role (or lack thereof). He's not really a big part of the sketch, but he is funny as one of the choreographers.
If this ranking was based purely on how funny the sketch is, it might've moved up a spot or two. Going off Brunson's performance — which was complete with bleach blonde highlights — it's on the lower end of the scale.
The real Katseye members make an appearance at the end, performing a song by the winning group titled “Guardians of the Mist.” It's about as head-aching as one of Katseye's real songs.
6. “Parent-Teacher Conference”
Brunson plays a part of a thruple (which also includes Ashley Padilla and Thompson). Padilla introduces her partners by asking the teacher if she can bring “all of the adults in our household” into the meeting.
There isn't a lot of room for the PTA meeting to go after introducing the punchline, but it works well enough. It showed a different side of Brunson, who dons long hair and a man bun, that's for sure.
5. “Airport Massage Chairs”
To his credit, Brunson played along with Mikey Day, who went completely over the top during the “Airport Massage Chairs” sketch.
Brunson and Day play guys who are on a business trip and are relieving stress by using massage chairs. Meanwhile, a woman played by Padilla is trying to take a serious phone call.
It's a completely ridiculous premise, and Day takes it to an extreme. He lets out really loud moans, almost to the point that Brunson breaks character. Brunson isn't quite as committed to his performance, but he's also fighting the urge to break character.
Article Continues Below4. “Young Rell's Crew”
The second sketch to tackle dealing with fame is “Young Rell's Crew,” which was uploaded on YouTube since it was cut for time. It's hard to fathom why this was cut — it is way better than the “Old Friend” sketch that ended the show.
In “Young Rell's Crew,” Brunson plays a hit rapper who meets with his lawyer to discuss his team. He's shelling out millions for his staff's payroll, including two people for different jobs that involve hats.
It may slightly overstay its welcome, explaining why it didn't make the top three, but it's a sketch that certainly should've made the show.
3. “Office MVP”
The first sketch of the night to use Brunson's basketball skills was “Office MVP.” In it, the 2026 NBA Finals MVP goes undercover in an office job.
He tries to impress his teammates by shooting garbage into a wastebasket. It becomes cringier with every miss before he reveals his true identity.
A stupid sketch that works because it appropriately uses the star power of the episode's host.
2. The Opening monologue
Brunson's opening monologue didn't expose him, relying on his Knicks teammates to carry him through it. He did get some good jokes in, though, like when he said, “Tonight, I'm going to approach hosting the same way I approach a Knicks Finals game. So, the first three quarters are going to be godawful, the last sketch is gonna be amazing.”
He also took aim at Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's Madison Square Garden wedding, saying, “The new season is just a couple weeks away, and I gotta say, it's going to be pretty cool to be back at Madison Square Garden, looking around like, ‘Wow, just a few months ago, this was the exact spot where Taylor and Travis got married.'”
When he opened the door to questions from his teammates, the monologue hit its peak. KAT even asked if he could “foul out of SNL” and was delighted to be able to stay for the whole show. If nothing else, Towns certainly has a future in acting, as evidenced by this cameo and his small role in The Devil Wears Prada 2.
1. “North High”
A parody of High School Musical was low-hanging fruit, but SNL executed it perfectly with Brunson. He plays a transfer student who joins the North High Cougars. Brunson takes on the team's equivalent of Troy Bolton (played by Culhan).
He constantly blocks Culhan's shots, and he even steals his girl by the end of the bit. They try to sing and dance their way to scores, but Brunson outdoes them in every facet of the game.
Sometimes, the obvious choice is the right one. There wasn't a better sketch during the entire show than “North High,” which should go down in history as one of the best from an athlete.
Jalen Brunson's SNL episode is streaming on Peacock.