Late on Monday night, after the completed a sweep of the to reach the Finals for the first time since 1999, was named MVP of the Eastern Conference Finals. The 6-foot-2 guard, who averaged 25.5 points and 7.5 assists on 48.7% shooting in the series, is now four wins away from leading the Knicks to their first title since 1973 and .
Much further down Brunson’s list of accomplishments would be proving Las Vegas Aces coach Becky Hammon wrong. In December of 2023, Hammon said on an that the Knicks were “missing” a “1A dude,” and that “if your best player is small, you’re not winning.”
In the wake of Brunson’s recent accomplishments, Hammon was asked about her years-old comments. The Hall of Famer, who never won a title as a player but has three rings as a coach, didn’t back down.
“I speak from experience,” Hammon . “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 stand by it,” Hammon continued. “I said what I said. If he proves me wrong, he proves me wrong. Good for him. But I do think the two best teams are in the West, and you know who I’m cheering for.”
Today I asked Becky Hammon what she’d like to say to Knicks fans, consider the hatchet buried.
Coach says there’s NO air to clear & she thinks Brunson is a “helluva” player. But make no mistake about who she’s pulling for this postseason.
🎥:
The 5-foot-6 Hammon spent 16 seasons in the WNBA — eight with the New York Liberty playing at Madison Square Garden, and eight with the then-San Antonio Silver Stars, who later moved to Las Vegas and became the Aces. Hammon made six All-Star Games, was a four-time All-WNBA selection and went to the playoffs 13 times, but a championship always eluded her. She was 0-4 in the WNBA Finals, losing three times with the Liberty and once with the Silver Stars.
Hammon also worked as an assistant for the from 2014 to 2021 before landing the Aces job. Few in WNBA or NBA history are more acutely aware of the challenge of being a team’s best player as a small guard, and the pain of being unable to get over the finish line. As she mentioned on Tuesday, she is, and was, speaking from experience when she said that Brunson was “too small” to be the best player on a title team.
Here is the exchange Hammon had back in 2023 with Kendrick Perkins, Chiney Ogwumike and Brian Windhorst:
Hammon: At the end of the day, they don’t have a dude. You gotta have a dude, you gotta have a 1A dude, and they’re missing that at the end of the day if we’re getting down to brass tacks.
Perkins: I didn’t want to disagree with Becky today. They do have that dude.
Hammon: Who?
Perkins: Jalen Brunson.
Hammon: No, he’s too small.
Ogwumike: Didn’t they say that about you? And you’re a Hall of Famer.
Hammon: I’ve got a philosophy. Can I say my philosophy? If your best player is small, you’re not winning. John Stockton, Allen Iverson, Steve Nash, you can go down the list. is the only dude.
Ogwumike: And he’s not that small. He’s like 6-3.
Hammon: Also, though, [Curry] is the best shooter to ever walk the planet. He’s in a different class.
Windhorst: [Hammon] is right. History says she is right.
Since the NBA/ABA merger in 1976, the only two small guards to win a title as the definitive best player on their team are Isiah Thomas with the and Curry with the .
You can make arguments for either Gus Williams or Dennis Johnson on the 1979 Seattle SuperSonics, Chauncey Billups on the 2004 Pistons and Dwyane Wade on the 2006 , but the ’79 SuperSonics and ’04 Pistons were unique situations (neither had a single player make the NBA’s 75th anniversary team) and both Johnson and Wade were 6-foot-4.
In any case, even if you include Williams or Johnson, Billups and Wade, that’s only five players in 50 years. Brunson may end up being another outlier if he can lead the Knicks past the or San Antonio Spurs — a big if — but Hammon’s philosophy is sound.
