
Las Vegas Aces head coach Becky Hammon dissed New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson in 2023.
Brunson ignored the comments then. After winning NBA Finals MVP on Saturday night, he's still disregarding them.
"I didn't respond to them then, I'm damn sure not gonna respond to them now," Brunson said when asked if he wanted to say anything to critics who said he's not a No. 1 option for a championship team.
Hammon, a Basketball Hall of Famer, was among those who believed Brunson would never carry a team to a title. During an ESPN "NBA Today" segment in December 2023, she said the Knicks needed to add another star to reach the next level.
"I didn't respond to them then, I'm damn sure not gonna respond to them now."
— ESPN (@espn) June 14, 2026
Jalen Brunson on anyone who said he's not a 1A guy pic.twitter.com/eS5MBxxerB
"[The Knicks] don't have a dude," she said. "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 just getting down to brass tacks."
Hammon expanded on her take, saying Brunson (6-foot-2) lacked elite height. She also claimed he lacked the scoring ability of other smaller guards who have been the driving force for championship teams.
"This is a game that, the big and bold, it favors that," she said. "I love Jalen Brunson, but you're going to put him on the level of a 1A? You're putting him with [Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo], [Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid] and [Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry]?"
Brunson came up big throughout the Finals against the San Antonio Spurs, especially in Game 5 on Saturday night. The guard scored 45 points on 14-of-27 shooting, leading the Knicks to a 94-90 win.
Brunson's sister, Erica, did the talking for him. "Now what?" she wrote on X while responding to Hammon's viral take.
Now what? https://t.co/Q3P7BJ9wZS
— Erica Brunson (@eribrunson) June 14, 2026
Now, Hammon should admit Brunson is that dude. He's always been that dude, winning a state championship at Adlai E. Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, Ill., two college titles while starring for the Villanova Wildcats from 2015-18 and a ring with the Knicks.
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