Jalen Brunson led the New York Knicks to their first championship in 50 years, won Finals MVP, and scored 45 in the clinching victory. And in doing so, he won a victory for small guards of all places and times.
There were serious questions about whether Brunson could ever lead the Knicks to a title, given his size. Although there were plenty of voices with doubts, none was more prominent or impactful than those of Las Vegas Aces coach Becky Hammon.
As soon as the clock hit zero and the Knicks were officially champions, the social media cold-take police were out in droves to replay Hammon’s viral comments from a guest analyst spot on ESPN in December 2023.
It was then that Hammon said the Knicks didn’t have a “1A dude” and that teams led by small players simply couldn’t win championships, except for Steph Curry, the greatest shooter alive.
Becky Hammon on why the Knicks can’t win a championship:
“They don’t have a dude… you got to have a 1A dude.”
Perkins: “They do have that dude…Jalen Brunson.”
Hammon: “He too small. If your best player is small, you’re not winning.” pic.twitter.com/E5Y6oZYO7u
— Hater Report (@HaterReport) June 14, 2026
At the time, Hammon’s comments were a big deal given her accolades and accomplishments in the basketball universe. This wasn’t just a hot-take artist, podcaster, or commentator saying it. It was someone who had seen and done everything in basketball. But the comments didn’t just hang around on social media, they also impacted Jalen Brunson himself.
Brunson’s Villanova and Knicks teammate Mikal Bridges gave a very uncensored, very revealing Instagram Live session that revealed a whole lot of information, possibly under the influence of celebrating his championship for multiple days running. And he shared that Hammon’s comments motivated Brunson to reach the very top of the sport.
https://t.co/fTgLJdSaSD pic.twitter.com/vAf2de8InW
— Yuni⚯͛🔮 (@DNetxy) June 15, 2026
“I appreciate Becky, no cap,” Bridges said. “The words she said about ‘can’t win with JB being a 1A, 1B, he’s too little,’ all that did is fuel that (expletive) bro. I don’t give a f*ck what you all say, what he say, I know him. Cause he ain’t going to tell y’all. That (expletive) don’t take that. He knows what she said, and it fueled that (expletive) to go be f*cking great.”
But Mikal Bridges also defended Becky Hammon from Knicks fans aggressively firing shots at the Aces coach.
“Becky is GOAT go, don’t disrespect Becky, bro. She said what she said. She motivated that (expletive) bro. He motivated when he wake up, it just added sh*t to it,” Bridges added.
For his part, Jalen Brunson refused to engage on the topic. Instead, his lifting the Larry O’Brien and Bill Russell MVP trophies did all the talking necessary.
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