Alex Rodriguez once tried to take less money but didn’t get any Jalen Brunson-like praise

It’s funny the way perception works. Jalen Brunson has enjoyed a full day’s worth of a skyrocketing approval rating after agreeing to an extension that’ll leave (for now anyway) $113 million on the table.

(It’s at about 98.5 percent, and not 100, because there are those who — fairly — point out that Brunson isn’t exactly donating the entirety of the $39 million he WILL be receiving annually to UNICEF).

Thing is, Brunson was already hovering around 95 percent, especially with Knicks fans. He’s not only a terrific player but always comes across as a generally good dude — eager to needle his teammates, even more likely to over-praise them, ever accountable, ever accessible.

“Haven’t you heard?” Josh Hart said last winter. “Jalen is the perfect person.”

He said that with a dry smile. But there was an element of truth, too.

So, sure, it’s possible that because Brunson is so inherently likeable, his decision on his contract was greeted with even more enthusiasm than it might have. We want to like the guys we root for. We want to think the investment we make in them is a worthy one. Tom Brady has been inevitably linked to all of this because he gave up a lot of nickels and dimes through the years, and though he may not have always been quite the choirboy Brunson has been, it’s hard to build up a strong dislike for Tom Brady the person (as opposed to Tom Brady the football assassin).