The Profile: The king of New York & the trailer park billionaire
This edition of The Profile features Jalen Brunsen, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, Erika Kirk, and more.
Good morning, friends!
As many of you know, I love New York.
I don’t follow sports particularly closely, but basketball is one of the few games I can actually understand and enjoy. My husband is a diehard Knicks fan, so over the years I’ve tagged along to plenty of games and always had a great time.
But the Knicks making the Finals (and now WINNING THE NBA CHAMPIONSHIP) has transformed the city’s already-electric energy into something I can’t even describe. It feels like New York has been plugged into a power outlet.
People are outside watching together. A united front. (It also helps that Knicks fans are delightfully unhinged. I can’t stop watching the “man on the street” interviews on Instagram.)
We went to Game 4 at Madison Square Garden hopeful.
Then the Spurs took a small lead. Then a bigger one. By halftime, they were up 27 points. The cheers turned into groans, and the groans turned into silence.
And then — a miracle. The Knicks didn’t take their first lead until just under a minute remained in the game.
Thousands of fans experienced the same emotional sequence. Everyone went from “it’s over” to “wait…” to “maybe?” to “oh my God what did I just witness?”
Jalen Brunson missed the potential game-winning three-pointer. The Knicks won only because OG Anunoby tipped it in with 1.2 seconds remaining. One point two seconds!
Moments like that are rare because they force us to confront something we spend most of our lives trying to avoid: uncertainty. We want certainty. We want to know how the story ends.
By halftime, most of us were convinced we knew exactly how the Knicks’ story would end. Then, in the span of a few minutes, that certainty left and the hope returned. The comeback was a reminder that the improbable happens more often than we’d like to admit — and that even when the odds look overwhelming, it ain’t over til’ it’s over.
As a storyteller, I love that. I love hearing my normally-pragmatic husband talk about destiny. I love hearing a lawyer who demands evidence in every other aspect of her life talk about serendipity.
It’s equal parts absurdity and magic — the combination that makes New York City extraordinary.
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE KNICKS AND ALL THE KNICKS FANS! As one of the commentators said when Jalen Brunsen hugged his dad: “Life is not perfect, but there are perfect moments. And there’s one right there.”
Here is a video I took from the stands of the game-winning shot of Game 4:
— Polina
PROFILES.
— The world’s most likable celebrity [**HIGHLY RECOMMEND**]
— The trailer park billionaire
— The king of New York
— The ultra-athlete competing in Antarctica
— The modern conservative woman
THE PEOPLE.
The world’s most likable celebrity: If you read one thing today, let it be this profile on Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson. Beneath one of the world’s most carefully managed public personas is a man increasingly preoccupied with the scars of his past. Through long, tequila-fueled conversations, Johnson reflects on marriage struggles, his fear after discovering a potentially serious health issue, the pain of childhood poverty and abandonment, and his evolving view of masculinity, politics, and fame. Such an entertaining read. (Esquire) (For more, check out my Profile Dossier on Dwayne Johnson here)
The king of New York: Jalen Brunson’s rise from an overlooked second-round draft pick to the face of the New York Knicks is a story of relentless work, self-belief, and humility. Long doubted because of his size and athleticism, Brunson steadily proved skeptics wrong at every level before arriving in New York, where his grit, leadership, and clutch performances have made him the city’s unlikely basketball king. (ESPN)
The trailer park billionaire: Bob Bull turned Britain’s trailer parks into a billion-pound empire by convincing lenders they were luxury housing developments, borrowing heavily to fuel rapid expansion. But inflated valuations, questionable business practices, and mounting debt eventually caused the company to collapse, leaving creditors owed billions and raising questions about where much of the money went. (Bloomberg; alternate link)
The ultra-athlete competing in Antarctica: Stephanie Case, a 43-year-old lawyer and ultramarathon runner who famously won a race while breastfeeding her infant daughter, is attempting something no woman has ever done before. She will compete in — and potentially break the overall record for — the 100-mile Antarctic Ice Ultra. Despite admitting that she “genuinely hates the cold,” Case will face brutal -13°F temperatures and fierce Antarctic winds in a challenge she says is about more than endurance. (The Athletic; alternate link)
The modern conservative woman: At Turning Point USA’s Women’s Leadership Summit, attended by roughly 3,000 women, Erika Kirk outlined a vision of conservative Christian womanhood centered on faith, marriage, motherhood, and family over career ambition. The conference reflected a broader shift within the movement away from overt politics and toward cultural and religious values, with speakers promoting traditional gender roles, criticizing feminism, and encouraging young women to prioritize family life while framing conservative communities as a refuge from increasingly hostile mainstream institutions. (WSJ; complimentary link provided)
