Long before her son Jalen Brunson led the Knicks to an NBA championship — with her husband Rick on the coaching staff — Sandra Brunson was a Division I volleyball player at Temple University.

She told "CBS Mornings" that playing volleyball taught her "a lot about myself." 

"It really opened my eyes to possibilities," Sandra Brunson said.

Those possibilities now include The Second Round Foundation, the nonprofit Sandra co-founded in 2022 with her son, Jalen. Its mission is to empower young people by providing educational opportunities, access to sports, healthy nutrition and other critical resources.

"The Second Round Foundation was born out of Jalen's journey," Sandra Brunson told "CBS Mornings." "So, he was the 33rd pick in the NBA draft and for some people who don't know, the 33rd pick is in the second round. I wanted him to understand that just because he wasn't viewed as a top 10 pick in the NBA didn't mean that he couldn't succeed."

Sandra Brunson took the stage fresh off the Knicks' title run at Aspen Ideas: Health, a conference in Colorado exploring the future of medicine, wellness and science. Along with former NFL star Russell Wilson, she discussed ways to improve youth mental health — a cause she believes is essential to helping young people thrive.

"The fastest way that we can have an impact is to go to schools where children need resources and families need resources," she said. "We're small and we're growing and it's all volunteers. We move slowly, small steps, because they're very methodical."

Sandra Brunson's slow and steady approach to her foundation mirrors her philosophy on parenting Jalen and his younger sister, Erica — hard work, no shortcuts and keeping perspective. One way she did that was by leaving him short notes of encouragement growing up.

"I would say it started about his sophomore year in high school. So I started giving him like devotionals or little notes," she said. "Tape it to the mirror in the bathroom, tape it to the fridge. I would put it in his lunch bag."

Sandra also started another tradition to help give Jalen perspective — texting him before each game.

"Just to give him some words of encouragement and to put, you know, what he's doing in perspective, you know, like it's a big game, but it's not the end of the world," she said. "It's basketball."

But she was still hanging on every play as her son won his first NBA championship and NBA Finals MVP earlier this month.

"That one thing I've told him in years past is that as a leader, he has to understand that everyone has a job to do and every one of his teammates have to feel comfortable in their role and believe in their role and no matter what it is. And that's his role as a leader," Sandra Brunson said. "And I think that he has learned over the years it's not what happens, it's how you respond."