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).

And it’s funny …

Because there was a time when Alex Rodriguez was willing to do something comparable to what Brunson did Friday afternoon. Whenever we talk about Rodriguez, that part of the equation almost never is mentioned, and when it is it’s almost never given near as much of an airing as his remarkable skill, talent and numbers, his epic decline, his Page Six addictions, and, of course, the money he made as a player, which was in excess of $441 million.

This is likely because of the $252 million chunk of it that he agreed to in 2000, the culmination of a public auction that settled at the odd figure of 252 because either Rodriguez or his agent, Scott Boras, thought it important to exactly double the previously high salary outlay in North American sports, the $126 million the Timberwolves gave Kevin Garnett. It was distasteful at the time, and quickly aged worse and worse.

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And overshadowed the fact that in the offseason of 2003-04, Rodriguez volunteered to take a pay cut — a genuine pay cut — to jump into the Yankees-Red Sox fray on the side of the Idiots and not the Emperors. Texas was eager to unload his contract. A-Rod was desperate to play relevant baseball again, and the Yankees already had a third baseman in place, Aaron Boone. So the Sox put in place a series of trade proposals, the core of which was this: Rodriguez to the Sox in exchange for Manny Ramirez and Jon Lester (Boston was also ready to ship Nomar Garciaparra to the White Sox for Magglio Ordonez, so Rodriguez would’ve stayed at shortstop, too).

But there was one critical part to the deal.

The Sox needed A-Rod to take a $4 million pay cut.

And here’s the thing: He was eager to do it.

Now, he wouldn’t have had to simply walk away from all of the money. The Sox were willing to allow A-Rod to retain his image rights, and he’d also be able to opt out after the 2005 season (same as Brunson has plenty of opportunities to make up for much of what he’s forfeited as long as he stays healthy).

It was still a stunning choice.

It reverberated throughout baseball.

And, ultimately, it never happened.

The MLB Players Association jumped in, vetoed the deal, said it would set a terrible precedent, and the baseball union is one of the strongest unions that’s ever been.

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Soon enough Boone would play an ill-fated basketball game. Brian Cashman would reach out to the Rangers. And so A-Rod was a Yankee, and he would write his known chapter here, write his own legacy (better and worse) … and almost never, ever, be thought of us anything other than an excellent player with a fat bank account and a few steroid skeletons dangling in his closet. It’s funny how perception works.

Two episodes in, this is the greatest season of “Hard Knocks” ever, and I’ve seen them all. I could’ve watched those combine meetings for three hours. And apparently you have to be Will Hunting to understand how to play quarterback in the NFL.

I’m still enjoying “Presumed Innocent” a lot, though I’m not quite sure that David E. Kelley’s intent was to have me rooting that Jake Gyllenhaal’s Rusty Sabich gets life without parole. Unless he was going for “most unlikeable guy you’re supposed to be pulling for” with that one.

If the Mets or Yankees are looking for trade deadline help … the Sioux City Explorers of the American Association needed an emergency starter last week and sought out 44-year-old J.D. Scholten, a former minor leaguer now in the Iowa State House. Scholten threw six one-run innings in his first start, then seven more one-run innings in his second.

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Bill Findlay : I keep telling myself to calm down. Keep asking myself if I’m looking at all of this rationally. And no matter what, I keep getting a strong, growing sense of destiny regarding the Knicks. Haven’t been this excited since the banner days. Can’t wait!

Vac: And, honestly, here’s the thing: Even if it doesn’t work out, isn’t it fun to be excited again?

Joe Nicoletti: I do not know any Yankees fan who believes — whether it is Alex Cora, Kevin Cash or Rich Kotite in the opposing dugout — Aaron Boone has a managerial advantage.

Vac: I’m gonna have to go with Boonie over the Jets version of Kotite, at least. Maybe not the Philly version.

@Yoplin: It may be time to conquer my jinx fears and own that Brunson jersey.

@MikeVacc: Those, sadly, do not come at a hometown discount.

Bert Delgado: The Tampa Bay Rays have a couple of walls on the left side of their infield defense: shortstop Taylor Walls and third baseman Isaac Paredes, whose last name means “walls” in Spanish.

Vac: Further proof that you can get a little knowledge in addition to (hopefully) a few laughs in your weekly dose of WhackBacks!

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