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Basketball star Jalen Brunson may have found his game, but he doesn’t think children should be in a rush to find theirs.
Fresh off leading the New York Knicks to their first NBA championship in 53 years, the team captain and Finals Most Valuable Player has announced his first children’s book, Jalen Plays It All.
His new picture book looks back at a much earlier chapter. Before basketball became the center of his life, Brunson tried swimming, American football, baseball, tennis and other sports while searching for the activity that felt right.
His message to young readers is simple: the athletes they see on screen and in arenas were once just trying to play.
“I hope kids read this book and realize they don’t have to have everything figured out,” Brunson said. “Keep trying new things, keep learning and keep putting in the work. You never know where those experiences might take you.”
Featuring illustrations by Neely Daggett, the book follows Brunson through mistakes, setbacks and moments when quitting feels easier than continuing. Each activity teaches him something about confidence, discipline, teamwork and perseverance. Rather than presenting those experiences as detours from basketball, the story shows how they helped shape the player and person he became.
That makes Jalen Plays It All especially timely.
Across youth sport, children and families can face growing pressure to choose one activity early, train year-round and treat every season as a step toward an elite team, university scholarship or professional career. The belief is that specializing sooner gives young athletes an advantage.
Research suggests that may often come at a cost.
The Aspen Institute’s Project Play, a U.S. initiative to improve children’s access to quality sport, warns that early specialization can increase the risk of injury and psychological stress and may contribute to children leaving sport altogether. Trying several activities, by contrast, can help young people develop a wider range of movement skills, transfer them between sports and remain involved for longer.
The American Academy of Pediatrics has also raised concerns about youth sport becoming too professional too soon. Its guidance recommends that young athletes take at least one or two days away from sport-specific training each week and spend two to three months of the year away from any single sport, allowing time for physical and emotional recovery.
Brunson’s story offers a more personal version of that case.
“Every sport I played helped build the habits, character and work ethic that made me who I am,” he wrote when announcing the book.
Playing several sports does more than give different muscles a break. It introduces children to new teammates, coaches, rules and ways of moving. One activity may build coordination, another communication or resilience. A child may discover an unexpected strength, or simply learn that not being immediately good at something is not a reason to stop.
There is something refreshing about an NBA champion choosing to focus on the sports he did not ultimately pursue. Athlete-led children’s books often center on confidence and hard work, but Jalen Plays It All adds another message: exploration is part of development, not a distraction from it.
That matters because the benefits of sport should not depend on whether a child becomes the strongest player on the team. Different activities can help young people build friendships, confidence and a lasting relationship with movement long before anyone knows where their talent might lead.
For clubs, schools and community sport organizations, the book offers a reminder to make room for variety. Programs can help children explore different activities and develop broad movement skills without pushing them toward one pathway too soon. Project Play recommends encouraging this kind of “sport sampling,” particularly for children who may have fewer affordable opportunities to try something new.
Brunson eventually chose basketball. But Jalen Plays It All suggests the choosing did not need to come first.
Often children just need time to find what brings them joy, discover what they can do and learn who they are along the way.
Jalen Plays It All will be published by Feiwel & Friends, an imprint of Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group, on November 24, 2026. The 40-page picture book is intended for readers ages four to eight.
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