LAS VEGAS — Aces coach Becky Hammon sees no reason to apologize for her take that 2026 NBA Finals MVP Jalen Brunson wasn’t a “1A” star.
But Hammon did acknowledge Tuesday that Brunson showed “he was that 1A dude” as he led the Knicks to their first championship in 53 years.
“Jalen, all he did was prove history wrong, he proves he’s an outlier,” Hammon said after the Aces’ shootaround. “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,” Hammon continued. “But apologize, I’m never gonna apologize for having an opinion. That’s what ESPN pays me for.”
Hammon infamously said in 2023 that the 6-foot-2 Brunson was too small to be the lead star on a championship team.
“If your best player is small, you’re not winning,” Hammon said on ESPN’s “NBA Today” back then.
When the Knicks got on a roll during the playoffs, Hammon doubled down on her stance.
“I’m speaking historically on the NBA with what I said,” Hammon said in May. “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.
“(If) he proves me wrong, he proves me wrong. Good for him.”
Brunson cemented himself as one of the Knicks’ best players in franchise history.
Hammon would argue that he’s the best.
“Let me just piss off Knicks fans again and say, I think he’s the greatest Knick ever,” she said. “Give them something else to talk about… I’ve always been a Jalen Brunson fan. I was a fan of his at Villanova, in Dallas and why this comment went off the rails, I have no idea because it was clearly a historical and analytical take.”
