Jalen Brunson has led the New York Knicks to the NBA Finals for the first time in 27 years. They are now four wins away from being the NBA champions.
Amid their dominant playoff run that saw them win 11 straight games, including the sweeps of the Philadelphia 76ers and the Cleveland Cavaliers, the internet resurfaced comments made in 2023 from the Las Vegas Aces head coach, Becky Hammon, about Jalen Brunson not being a championship-caliber leader.
The Associated Press caught up with Hammon after the Knicks confirmed their place in the NBA Finals with a 130-93 win in Game 4 against the Cavaliers. She addressed the backlash that her old comments about Jalen Brunson were receiving.
“I speak from experience,” Hammon said. “Allen Iverson got MVP, and he lost in the finals. I think the two best teams are probably in the West, but I’m up for being proven wrong.”
“That’s the other thing, I think Jalen Brunson’s a hell of a player, a hell of a player. I’m speaking historically on the NBA with what I said. I don’t know why everybody’s so stuck on that. I said it two years ago.”
“I said what I said. If he proves me wrong, he proves me wrong,” Hammon concluded.
Even former NBA player Isaiah Thomas brought up Hammon’s old comments, throwing shade at her on social media for giving small guards a bad name.
“I remember when Coach Becky Hammon went on national TV saying you can’t win with a SMALL guard… Man, I don’t like those types of statements smh. Keep doing ya thang, Brunson… We ‘small’ guards are all rooting 4 ya,” wrote Thomas on X.
Jalen Brunson, on the other hand, is letting his actions speak much louder than his words. He won the Larry Bird Trophy as the Eastern Conference Finals MVP trophy unanimously after leading the Knicks to sweep the Cavaliers in four games.
He ended the Cavaliers’ series averaging 25.5 points, 7.8 assists, and 3.3 rebounds while shooting 48.7% from the field. So far in the playoffs, he is averaging 26.9 points, 6.6 assists, and 2.8 rebounds while going 48.6% from the field and 35.2% from beyond the arc.
I highly doubt that Brunson will directly say anything to Becky Hammon, especially until the Knicks finish the job and win the NBA Finals. If the Knicks lose, I don’t think he’ll say anything, but if they win, we may see a response from Brunson.
The NBA Finals begin on June 3 with the Knicks hosting Games 3, 4, and 6 of the series at Madison Square Garden. It will be interesting to see which opponent they end up with and if Brunson can go all the way and prove Hammon wrong about him not being a ‘championship-caliber’ player.
