On Tuesday, Las Vegas Aces head coach Becky Hammon refused to back down from her previous doubts about Jalen Brunson’s ability to lead a team to an NBA title due to his diminutive stature.
Brunson, who is listed at 6-foot-2, led the New York Knicks to a 130-93 Game 4 win to complete an Eastern Conference finals sweep over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday night. His play has the Knicks set for the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999 and pursuing their first league title since 1973.Hammon still doesn’t think it’s enough yet, and, even though it’s been two years since she publicly aired her original reservations, she hasn’t been dissuaded from her intended point.
“I’m speaking historically on the NBA with what I said,” Hammon said. “I don’t know why everybody’s so stuck on that. I said it two years ago, I stand by it. There’s no air to be cleared. I said what I said.
“He proves me wrong. He proves me wrong. Good for him, but I do think the two best teams are in the West.”
During a December 2023 episode of ESPN’s “NBA Today,” the three-time WNBA champion said no small player can lead a winning team. When she made her comments, the Knicks were 16-11 and chasing home-court advantage in the East.
ESPN analyst and former NBA center Kendrick Perkins brought up Brunson in reply. Hammon responded that the guard was “too small.”
“If your best player is small, you’re not winning,” she said, with Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry being her lone exception.
Brunson finished fifth in MVP voting that season and has since led the Knicks to two Eastern Conference finals appearances. He finally led the Knicks over the hump in this most recent series against the Cavaliers as they seek the franchise’s third NBA title. He averaged 25.5 points and 7.8 assists per game in the sweep. In Game 1, he scored 17 of his 38 points in the fourth quarter and overtime, spearheading a 22-point New York comeback win. Brunson took home the Larry Bird Eastern Conference Finals MVP trophy for his efforts.
Hammon still wasn’t convinced. She’s seen great, smaller guards get to this point before.
“Allen Iverson got MVP, and he lost in the Finals,” Hammon explained. “I think the two best teams are probably in the West.”
After the Knicks secured passage to the NBA Finals, Hammon received further strife for her previous comments from former All-Star point guard Isiah Thomas on Twitter. The 2017 All-NBA Second Team selection stood just 5-feet-9 inches and still averaged 28.9 points a game at his peak, which ended with a Celtics appearance in the East finals.
While Hammon will watch with interest to see if Brunson proves her earlier point wrong, she was not hard-pressed to recognize his production this season. Like the rest of us, she’ll see if he can finish the mission, or if difficulties with his relative lack of size will stand taller than him on the biggest stage, especially against elite defenses led by Defensive Player of the Year Victor Wembanyama of the Spurs and the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder’s Chet Holmgren.
“I’m up for being proven wrong,” Hammon told reporters. “That’s the other thing. I think Jalen Brunson is a hell of a player.”
