Jalen Brunson hosted Saturday Night Live's Season 52 premiere on Sept. 26 with K-pop group Katseye as musical guest, sending Brunson, SNL, and Katseye searches into a familiar Sunday sports-entertainment crossover. The New York Knicks Finals MVP made his hosting debut a night after another Knicks win, and NBC streamed the episode on Peacock.

Brunson opened with basketball humor, joking he would host like a Knicks Finals game — rough early, strong late — and brought teammates Karl-Anthony Towns, OG Anunoby, Mikal Bridges, and Josh Hart into the monologue for planted questions, Hollywood Reporter and NBC Insider reported. Deadline and Boston.com flagged a High School Musical parody in which Brunson dunks on a Troy Bolton stand-in, plus a Dream Academy sketch with Katseye introducing new cast members Grace Reiter and Saidah Belo-Osagie. Katseye also performed; Weekend Update and cold-open bits rounded out the premiere.

Athlete hosts rarely dominate SNL critical boards, and weekend recaps mixed praise for Brunson's ease with notes that the episode was business-as-usual. Still, the booking landed because Brunson led the Knicks to their first NBA title since 1973 and won Finals MVP in June — a New York sports story ready-made for 30 Rock.

Where to watch: stream the Season 52 premiere on Peacock; clip packages are on NBC's SNL channels and NBC Sports highlight pages. Next week's announced host is Dakota Johnson with musical guest Turnstile. Watch whether Brunson sketch clips keep Trends alive into Monday and whether Katseye's dual performance/sketch role lifts U.S. chart chatter.