Becky Hammon is not backing down from her take on Jalen Brunson, even after the New York Knicks star powered her team to the NBA Finals.
The Las Vegas Aces coach spoke about the new attention surrounding comments he first made in December 2023, when he questioned whether the junior guard could be the best player on a contending team.
“If your best player is young, you don’t win,” Hammon said at the time.
Now, with Brunson leading New York to a victory over Cleveland in the Eastern Conference finals and taking home the Larry Bird Trophy as the series MVP, the debate has erupted once again.
Brunson averaged 25.5 points and 7.8 assists during the series and helped push the Knicks to their first Finals appearance in decades.
Still, Hammon made it clear he stood by his overall point, even praising Brunson’s level of play.
“I’m speaking from my own experience,” Hammon said Tuesday. “Allen Iverson got the MVP, and he lost in the Finals. I think the two best teams might be in the West, but I’m willing to be proven wrong. Another thing, I think Jalen Brunson is a hell of a player, a hell of a player. I’m talking historically in the NBA about what I said. I don’t know why everybody latched onto that.
“I said what I said. If you prove me wrong, you prove me wrong.”
Hammon’s comments came just one day after Brunson and the Knicks shut out Cleveland to defend the Eastern Conference title. New York now awaits to face either Oklahoma City or San Antonio in the finals.
So when asked who he would support in the finals, Hammon did not elaborate.
“Oh, you know who I’m happy for,” Hammon said.
The Hall of Famer has deep ties to San Antonio after spending part of her WNBA career with the Silver Stars before the franchise moved to Las Vegas and became the Aces.
He also spent years on Gregg Popovich’s coaching staff with the Spurs before finally taking over in Las Vegas, where he won three titles in four seasons.
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