The New York Knicks, led by Jalen Brunson, are on an 11-game winning streak heading into the NBA Finals, where they’ll face either the Oklahoma City Thunder or San Antonio Spurs. New York is defying the odds and looking the best the team has in decades.
While many are backing the Knicks during the team’s playoff run this year, there are, of course, some doubters out there, too.
Las Vegas Aces coach Becky Hammon is under fire for being a Knicks skeptic after comments she made about the 6’2 Brunson in a December 2023 “NBA Today” appearance resurfaced this week. Back then, Hammon said that Brunson was not a “1A dude” capable of leading a championship team because of his size.
“If your best player is small, you’re not winning,” Hammon said at the time.
Becky Won’t Back Down
With the Knicks making the Finals and having a very solid chance of winning their first title since 1973, Hammon was asked on Tuesday about her resurfaced comment. She continued to back her statement, saying her reasoning is based on NBA history.
“I speak from experience,” Hammon said Tuesday. “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 [and] I stand by it. There’s no air to be cleared. I said what I said. If he proves me wrong, he proves me wrong.”
Hammon handled this situation with grace. She is openly excited at the possibility of Brunson proving her wrong this year by leading the Knicks to a title and defying the NBA history odds.
However, Hammon does have a dog in the fight. She is a notable Spurs fan and even previously worked as an assistant under Gregg Popovich from 2014–21 before taking the role as the Aces’ head coach in 2022. Hammon also played for the San Antonio Silver Stars during her WNBA career, a team that later became the Aces.
“Oh, you know who I’m cheering for,” said Hammon, who also played for the New York Liberty during their time at Madison Square Garden.
The Spurs forced a winner-take-all Western Conference Finals closer with a Game 6 rout on Thursday. That decider is Saturday night in Oklahoma City (8 p.m. ET, NBC). If the Thunder end up eliminating the Spurs, Hammon will have to re-evaluate where her alliance lands. So, maybe Hammon will end up cheering for Brunson and the Knicks after all. Wouldn’t that be some serendipity?
Does Hammon Have a Point?
There’s real history behind what Hammon is saying. Since the 1976 NBA-ABA merger, only two guards her size have clearly been the best player on a champion. Pistons Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas, listed at 6-foot-1, drove Detroit to back-to-back titles in 1989 and 1990, and the 6’2 Stephen Curry has been the centerpiece of four Golden State Warriors championships.
One can stretch the list to Chauncey Billups, the Finals MVP for the 2004 Detroit Pistons, but Billups wasn’t even that team’s leading scorer. That was the 6’7 Richard Hamilton and those Pistons won on balance and defense rather than one undersized star.
That’s the through line. The small guards who got there did it on rosters that spread the scoring around, and Brunson is carrying a heavier offensive load than Thomas or Billups ever did. It’s the piece of Hammon’s concern with the most teeth.
I remember when Coach Becky Hammond went on national TV saying you can’t win with a SMALL guard… Man I don’t like those type of statements smh. Keep doing ya thang Brunson… Us “small” guards all rooting 4 ya #Lefty
— Isaiah Thomas (@isaiahthomas) May 26, 2026
Not everyone is buying Hammon’s history lesson. Isaiah Thomas (no relation), the 5-foot-9 former All-Star who was the last pick of the 2011 draft, took to X to defend undersized guards as her comments re-entered the spotlight.
“I remember when Coach Becky Hammon went on national TV saying you can’t win with a SMALL guard,” Thomas wrote. “Man I don’t like those type of statements smh. Keep doing ya thang Brunson… Us ‘small’ guards all rooting 4 ya.”
Thomas, listed even smaller than Brunson, knows the doubt firsthand. He overcame those concerns to forge a 12-year career that saw him earn second-team All-NBA honors in 2017.
Hammon could be leaning on a perspective that applies to the wrong era. The modern NBA features more spacing, freedom of movement, and switch hunting in isolation. Those conditions suit a guard who scores at three levels and punishes switches the way Brunson does. He’s set the tone for New York on a nightly basis without leaving the impression that he’s been outmatched in a series.
It also helps Brunson’s case that the same conference finals have given Shai Gilgeous-Alexander trouble. The reigning MVP, a 6-foot-6 guard, averaged 31.1 points on 55.3% shooting during the regular season. Against the Spurs, he’s down to 24.3 points on 37.9% from the field and a 52.2% true shooting mark, even with his assists climbing to 8.8 a game from 6.6. San Antonio held him to 15 points on 6-of-18 in Game 6. If a defense anchored by 7-foot-4 Victor Wembanyama can take that much off a guard his size, it’s hard to argue Brunson being 6-foot-2 is what would decide the series.
Brunson hasn’t responded to Hammon’s comments, but he’s understandably got a lot on his plate. Regardless, Hammon’s opinion isn’t disrespectful toward Brunson. It’s solely based on NBA history. Through 14 postseason games so far, Brunson is averaging 26.9 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 6.6 assists a game. He’s definitely doing everything right, and his size isn’t a factor in the Knicks’ success.
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