Jalen Brunson wants to move past Becky Hammon's criticism of him not being a 1A star

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Jalen Brunson wants to move past Becky Hammon's criticism of him not being a 1A star originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

During the New York Knicks' championship run in the 2026 Playoffs, Becky Hammon's criticism of Jalen Brunson came up quite often. She noted that Brunson can't be the 1A star because his size detracts from him being a star player.

Historically, there have only been two smaller superstars who have carried their teams to championships, which are Isiah Thomas and Stephen Curry. Now, Brunson has become a similar outlier to them, and he proved Hammon wrong.

Jalen Brunson is done with the discourse about Becky Hammon's criticism​

To her credit, the Las Vegas Aces' head coach gave Brunson his well-deserved praise after winning the title. However, it seems the discourse is not going anywhere because Knicks fans cannot let it go.

At the same time, even Josh Hart fueled the flame when she called out Hammon as well on the live show of his and Brunson's podcast. Considering she said that she wanted to be proved wrong, it seems she is taking it on the chin.

MORE: Barack Obama celebrates Jalen Brunson's success with the Knicks

Brunson himself has not addressed Hammon at all in the past few years. Despite the sting of the criticism, he has dismissed any mention of it. However, it is clear that he was affected by it, but he silently used it as motivation to lead the Knicks to their first title in 52 years.

"You're seeing this? I'm skipping this; I'm skipping her," Brunson said in a segment on Sports Illustrated's video with the 2026 Finals MVP.

Brunson has a healthy approach to it because he has not called her out or responded with words. He just lets his game do the talking, and he proved that he can lead the Knicks to a championship, which is doubly sweet because he won it against a giant like Victor Wembanyama.

More NBA news:​

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• Mitchell Robinson makes a statement about his New York Knicks future
• Jose Alvarado gets a big free agency update with the New York Knicks
• Josh Hart has fun with Jalen Brunson being known as New York's king
• Paul Pierce defends Victor Wembanyama's decision to walk away after the NBA Finals

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