Jalen Brunson Admits He Was Wrong About Danhausen’s ‘Curse’ — Here’s What Changed

The New York Knicks are NBA champions for the first time since 1973, and according to Finals MVP Jalen Brunson, they owe at least part of that run to a man with painted black eyes and a tagline about being “Very Nice, Very Evil.”

Appearing on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon alongside teammates Mike Brown and Karl-Anthony Towns, Brunson finally addressed the infamous “Danhausen curse” — a running joke turned rallying cry that followed the Knicks through their postseason march.

From Skeptic to Believer

Brunson admitted during the interview that he was originally “skeptical” about independent wrestler Danhausen’s supernatural claims. But after the Knicks fell behind 2–1 to the Atlanta Hawks in the first round, Danhausen performed an “uncurse” ritual for the team on social media. What followed was a 13-game win streak that included sweeps of the Hawks, the Boston Celtics, and the Milwaukee Bucks before the streak finally broke in the NBA Finals.

“You have to believe it,” Brunson said on the show. “I didn’t want to. But the numbers don’t lie.”

The Knicks still won the Finals in five games over the San Antonio Spurs, capping a championship run that felt surreal even for a franchise with 50-plus years of pent-up demand.

Brunson’s Big Moment

Brunson’s best performance came in Game 5, the series clincher, where he dropped 45 points on more than 50 percent shooting. Averaging 32.6 points per game over the series, he stood taller than Victor Wembanyama’s 7-foot-4 shadow — both literally in the post-game interviews and figuratively on the stat sheet.

The Knicks won the first two games on the road, lost Game 3 at home, then erased a 29-point deficit in Game 4 — a comeback that, according to fans online, may have been powered by Danhausen’s influence.

WWE Meet-Cute Predicts Conference Finals

Off the court, Brunson has been an open WWE fan. In June 2024, he attended Friday Night SmackDown at Madison Square Garden, where he had a face-to-face with Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton. Neither man knew it at the time, but that staredown was a preview of the 2025 Eastern Conference Finals — which the Pacers won before losing to the Oklahoma City Thunder in a seven-game NBA Finals.

Haliburton’s Achilles tear in Game 7 sidelined him for the entire 2025–26 season. Brunson, meanwhile, now has a ring and what his teammates call “supernatural backing.”

The Knicks haven’t confirmed any formal relationship with Danhausen, and Brunson stopped short of calling the curse reversal a sports miracle. But he did close the Tonight Show segment with a smirk and a shrug: “Look, I’m not saying it’s real. I’m just saying we won.”