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Jalen Brunson is the King of New York City.
If you had any doubt about that, the fact that he is hosting the season opener of Saturday Night Live this week — with musical guest KATSEYE — should tell you all you need to know (catch the show on NBC at 11:30 p.m. ET / 8:30 p.m. PT, plus “SNL” streams live on Peacock).
Brunson is the fifth NBA player to host the show. In tribute to Brunson and the start of a new SNL season, let’s look back at the previous four.
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Charles Barkley
Sept. 25, 1993, musical guest: Nirvana
Jan. 9, 2010, musical guest: Alicia Keys
Jan. 7, 2012, musical guest: Kelly Clarkson
March 3, 2018, musical guest: Migos
Barkley has hosted SNL four times — the most of any pro athlete (unless you’re counting Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who has hosted five times). Three of Barkley’s turns as host came a decade or more after he retired from playing, which speaks to just how much he broke out of the athlete mode to become a pop culture personality.
Charles Barkley first appeared on SNL during his playing days, opening the 1993 season, and it gave us a glimpse of the larger-than-life personality that would fuel Barkley’s post-playing career. Barkley was coming off his MVP season and having led the Phoenix Suns to the NBA Finals (where they fell to the Jordan-era Bulls). Barkley poked fun at himself: During a skit with “therapist” Stuart Smalley, Barkley was asked if he was happy and he said yes, he was the best basketball player in the world. Smalley (played by Al Franken) responded, “So, I guess since, you know, you’re the best basketball player in the world, then I guess you won a lot of championships then?”
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Then there was the legendary one-on-one game where Barkley elbowed children’s show icon Barney the purple dinosaur.
Barkley would host three more times and was a favorite of the cast and crew, according to long-time SNL cue card guy Wally Feresten. Those appearances included some memorable skits, such as Barkley and Kate McKinnon playing the last two people at a bar for last call. It is Feresten who tells of a prank he and Barkley played on the SNL cast during rehearsal that was…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/jalen-brunson-hosts-saturday-night-145452495.html
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Publish date : 2026-09-24 14:54:00
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