Skip to content 
My Captain Benson, My ADA Carisi, My Cream Cheese Onion, Jalen Brunson in Episode 5!
As “Law & Order: SVU” star Mariska Hargitay predicted weeks ago, the New York Knicks guard was a guest on Thursday’s hour, months after leading his team to an NBA Finals victory. After an important 94-90 Game 5 win against the San Antonio Spurs in June — the Knicks’ first such victory in 53 years — Brunson was named tournament MVP.
Hargitay’s friendship with the team captain is well documented. Scenes of their continued mutual appreciation include her sitting courtside during the Knicks’ hard-won Finals and her appearance in a pre-recorded video that kicked off her 2026 Emmys hosting gig.
But going into this week’s “SVU,” we didn’t know much about what circumstances would bring Brunson’s character — Det. Jay Madison – In Action. What’s more, the part marks the pro athlete’s dramatic acting debut (though he did host the season 52 premiere of “Saturday Night Live” in September).
So how did Brunson’s entry into the “Law & Order” verse go? Read on for details.
Jalen Brunson’s character provides an important detail in this week’s case
The episode, titled “Abandoned,” was about a young woman named Chloe (played by Lauren Cole) who was attacked while attending a wedding reception. Although Chloe initially says she doesn’t know who would hurt her, it soon becomes clear that her domineering father, Ricky (Bill Hack, “Locke & Key”), and courageous mother, Monica (Jessali Gilsig, “Glee”), are not acting in her best interest.
After learning that Rick sealed the record after a previous run-in with the NYPD, Captain Benson (Marixa Hargitay) meets Jalen Brunson’s Jay Madison, the officer involved in the incident, at a restaurant. It seemed as if Benson happened to know Madison; He opened the conversation by congratulating her on her promotion to detective. He thanked him, adding in a voice that could have come straight from a postgame interview: “Focused on my goals, I gave 110 percent. Everything worked out.”
Madison tells Benson that Ricky and her teenage son, Tyler (Sam Cusson), were in the car that Madison and her partner stopped; Rick’s blood alcohol content was soon confirmed to be over the legal limit for driving. After Ricky and Tyler get mad at the cops, Madison searches the car and finds a pocket knife and a cubaton, or metal club, that matches the weapon used in Chloe’s attack. Benson quickly discovered that Madison and his partner had taken the knife but not the Cubaton, and then he left the diner and called Assistant District Attorney Dominick “Sonny” Carisi. Jr. to obtain the Kubaton warrant.
The cops found a gun hidden with Rick and Monica, and after Chloe confessed to Olivia that Tyler was the one who attacked her — and hurt her for years — the case didn’t end up in court. Rick and Monica essentially freed Chloe in favor of Tyler’s defense, but eventually the testimony of Chloe and Tyler’s young brother Evan (Emmett Moss, “Pete”) proved Chloe’s version of events to be true.
What did you think of the episode and Brunson’s performance in it? Are you looking forward to seeing other upcoming “SVU” guest stars? We’d love to hear all about it in the comments!
