Jalen Brunson just led the New York Knicks to an NBA title. He dropped 45 in the closeout game against the Spurs. He won Finals MVP. And still, Becky Hammon isn’t saying sorry.
Hammon, the Las Vegas Aces head coach and former ESPN analyst, made headlines a couple years back when she said Brunson wasn’t a true “1A” option. Her argument was pretty straightforward — historically, small guards don’t lead teams to championships. She wasn’t wrong, exactly. Guys like Isaiah Thomas and Steph Curry are the exceptions, not the rule.
Now that Brunson has joined that exclusive club, Hammon gave him his flowers. But an apology? Not happening.
“Jalen, all he did was prove history wrong, he proves he’s an outlier,” Hammon said, via Madeline Kenney of the New York Post. “So you can put his name next to Steph Curry and Isiah Thomas, and I thought he played brilliantly, especially down the stretch. I mean, he was that 1A dude. But apologize, I’m never gonna apologize for having an opinion. That’s what ESPN pays me for.”
She’s not wrong about that either. Sports analysts make a living by having takes. Some age well. Some don’t. Hammon’s take about Brunson aged like milk left in the sun, but that doesn’t mean she has to grovel for it.
The Small Guard Problem — and Why Brunson Broke It
The history of the NBA is littered with undersized point guards who couldn’t get over the hump. Allen Iverson made a Finals but couldn’t finish the job. Steph changed that, then Isaiah Thomas did it in Detroit. Now Brunson’s name is on that short list.
But it’s not just about the player. It’s about the construction around him. The Knicks spent years building a roster with length, versatility and shooting. They surrounded Brunson with wings who can guard multiple positions and bigs who can space the floor. That’s not an accident. That’s a front office that looked at what Hammon and others said — and decided to prove them wrong by building a specific kind of team.
Brunson wasn’t supposed to be this. A second-round pick. A guy who was always good but never great until he got to New York. And now he’s got a ring and a Finals MVP trophy. That’s the kind of story that makes people look silly for doubting. But it also makes you wonder — was Hammon’s point really that far off?
Most small guards do fail. That’s just numbers. Brunson is the outlier. The exception. And the Knicks built an exception around him.
So no, Hammon isn’t apologizing. And honestly, she doesn’t need to. She gave Brunson his credit. She called him an outlier. She put him in the same breath as Curry and Thomas. For a guy who was a second-round pick, that’s probably more than enough.
Knicks fans will probably stay mad about it. But that’s their thing. They’re always mad about something.
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