WNBA coach Becky Hammon refuses to apologize for her Jalen Brunson thank you.
In 2023, Hammon said Brunson wasn’t a “1A dude” and said if your best player is small, you’re not going to win on ESPN’s “NBA Today.” She doubled down on her take in late May, asking why everyone was so fixated on it.
Despite Brunson winning Finals MVP and leading the Knicks to a title, she still refused to apologize for her choice Tuesday.
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(Left) Las Vegas Aces head coach Becky Hammon practices against the Phoenix Mercury in the first half in Phoenix, Arizona, June 17, 2026. (Right) Jalen Brunson is seen during the New York Knicks’ ticker tape parade along the Canyon of Heroes in New York City, New York, on June 18, 2026. (Mark J. Rebilas/Imagn Images; NDZ/Star Max/GC Images)
“Jalen, all he did was prove history wrong. He proves he’s an outlier,” Hammon said after the Aces’ shootaround, according to the New York Post. “So you can put his name next to Steph Curry and Isiah Thomas, and I thought he played great, especially down the stretch.”
“I mean, he was that 1A guy,” Hammon said. “But sorry, I’ll never apologize for having an opinion. That’s what ESPN pays me to do.”
Brunson, who is 6-foot-2, scored 45 points in the Knicks’ 94-90 championship-sealing win over the San Antonio Spurs in Game 5, cementing himself as one of the best players in franchise history.
The Knicks’ captain appeared to weigh in on Hammon’s comments during the Knicks parade last week when he spoke in front of City Hall.
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Jalen Brunson of the New York Knicks celebrates with the Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award trophy and Knicks owner James Dolan after defeating the San Antonio Spurs in Game Five of the 2026 NBA Finals at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Texas, on June 13, 2026. (Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
“There are a lot of people who have a lot of negative things to say,” Brunson said. “There are a lot of people who have their own opinions. But when you prove them wrong, you don’t have to say s–t to them. They don’t deserve it.”
While Brunson may not have directly addressed Hammon, she has been the subject of ire among Knicks fans for her now infamous take. Hammon then offered another version of Brunson to “piss off Knicks fans again.”
“Let me just piss off Knicks fans again and say, I think he’s the best Knick ever,” Hammon 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 proposition.”
When she doubled down in May, she said she was concerned about being “proved wrong.”
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New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson warms up before Game Five of the NBA Finals at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Texas on June 13, 2026. (Scott Wachter/Imagn Images)
Brunson just finished his fourth season with the team, but has already turned himself into a franchise icon.
In four seasons with the Knicks, Brunson has averaged 26 points, 5.3 assists and 3.2 rebounds per game. He has made the All-Star team three times in his four seasons and was named the NBA’s Clutch Player of the Year last season.
In the NBA playoffs, Brunson has taken his game to another level. He has averaged 29.4 points, 5.5 assists and 3.7 rebounds in four playoff runs with the Knicks, helping the Knicks end their 53-year playoff drought.
