Mariska Hargitay says Jalen Brunson could be headed for a guest spot on Law & Order: SVU, telling Today host Savannah Guthrie there are “things in the works” to get the newly minted NBA Finals MVP onto the long-running NBC drama. The tease comes months after Brunson led the New York Knicks to their first championship since 1973 and rode a wave of goodwill straight into Hargitay's orbit.
According to the New York Post, Hargitay made the comments during an appearance on Today, saying Brunson could be seen on SVU and reiterating that plans are still developing. The Post, whose report by Bridget Reilly forms the basis of most details here, notes that Brunson had already said he planned to appear on the show sometime during the offseason.
The idea reportedly started right after the confetti settled. Immediately after the Knicks beat the San Antonio Spurs to win the title, Brunson told reporters his top post-championship goal was simply to “try to get on SVU,” a wish first surfaced by Men's Journal. It is not the kind of thing most fresh champions ask for — usually it is a theme park trip or a beach vacation — but Brunson's request lined up neatly with a show that has a long history of stunt-casting elite athletes.
A Friendship Built Courtside and Backstage
Hargitay has held courtside seats at Madison Square Garden in New York City for years, and the bond between her and Brunson has been visible all season. Ben Stiller, another MSG regular, has said Hargitay gets a level of affection from Brunson that other Knicks fans envy — a detail that even Knicks star teammate Jalen Brunson's Mount Rushmore ranking of courtside celebrities reflects, since he has publicly placed Hargitay ahead of Stiller, Spike Lee, and Tracy Morgan.
The relationship deepened during the postseason. Hargitay hugged Brunson on the court after Game 4 of the Finals, a game in which the Knicks came back from a 29-point deficit, and she has said she was very happy to see him afterward. She also embraced assistant coach Rick Brunson, Jalen's father, on the court; Rick Brunson had been a member of the 1999 Knicks squad that reached the Finals and now serves as an assistant under head coach Mike Brown.
When the Knicks celebrated with a ticker-tape parade through the Canyon of Heroes on July 18, Hargitay rode Jalen Brunson's championship float alongside her son, August. The connection ran in both directions off the court, too. During Hargitay's Broadway debut in Every Brilliant Thing at the Hudson Theatre, Brunson surprised her by attending a June performance with his wife, Ali, and Hargitay worked his No. 11 jersey directly into the live show, according to background reporting cited in the dossier. Brunson also visited Hargitay backstage with Ali, a meeting her husband, Peter Hermann, attended as well.
Co-Star Christopher Meloni Signs Off
Hargitay is not the only SVU veteran on board. Christopher Meloni, her longtime co-star, has approved of Brunson making an appearance on the show, saying the newly crowned champion can do whatever he wants as a world champion. That kind of blessing matters on a series where cameo casting has become something of a tradition.
The show does have precedent for bringing in marquee athletes. Carmelo Anthony and Chris Bosh guest-starred as themselves in a 2011 episode titled “Personal Fouls,” according to TV Guide, while Serena Williams took on a dramatic role as a college basketball player entangled in a police investigation in a 2004 episode called “Brotherhood,” as detailed by Looper. Both appearances show that turning real-world sports stars into SVU characters, rather than simple walk-ons, is a well-worn move for the franchise.
A Big Month for Hargitay and the Franchise
Any Brunson cameo would land amid a packed stretch for both Hargitay and the show itself. SVU remains the longest-running live-action primetime series in American television history, and its 28th season is set to premiere on NBC on October 8, with the show expected to surpass its 600th episode later in the season, per reporting cited by Collider.
Hargitay is also set to host the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards on September 14, making her the first woman to host the ceremony since 2011. Ahead of that, NBC will air a special three-episode “Best of Mariska Hargitay” marathon on September 10, spotlighting her Emmy-winning and nominated performances, according to the USA Herald. Hargitay, 62, described Brunson as her inspiration during a previous Today appearance, underscoring just how personal this crossover has become for her.
Brunson's standing in New York was already sky-high before any of this. He signed a four-year, $156.5 million contract extension with the Knicks in July 2024, sacrificing an estimated $113 million in guaranteed future money to give the front office salary-cap flexibility — a sacrifice widely credited with helping the organization build a championship-caliber roster. That decision, paired with his Finals MVP run, has made him something close to a folk hero across the city, a sentiment Hoodline has tracked in a Hudson River renaming push and in coverage of his ESPYs celebration.
For now, no episode script, character details, or air date have been finalized by NBC, and Hargitay's comments remain a tease rather than a confirmed booking. But between Meloni's blessing, the franchise's track record with star athletes, and a friendship that has already crossed from Madison Square Garden to Broadway, the pieces appear to be lining up for New York's newest sports-television crossover.
