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Jalen Brunson; Becky Hammon
Credit: Al Bello/Getty; Ethan Miller/Getty
NEED TO KNOW
- On Saturday, June 13, Jalen Brunson led the New York Knicks to their first NBA championship in 53 years with a 45-point game
- Becky Hammon's previously made remarks about his stature, while claiming that teams with smaller stars "historically" struggle to win titles
- The star point guard shared his two cents on the diss in a post-game press conference
Jalen Brunson is letting his win speak for itself.
After the 29-year-old New York Knicks point guard helped lead the team to clinch their first NBA championship in 53 years on Saturday, June 13, he shared a message for those — like WNBA alum and coach Becky Hammon — who have questioned his abilities and stature.
At a post-game press conference, a reporter asked the newly minted champion for his message to anyone who says he's not an “1A guy,” seemingly referring to Hammon's claim in a December 2023 episode of ESPN's NBA Today that the Knicks were "missing" a “1A dude.”
“I didn't respond to them then, I'm damn sure not gonna respond to them now,” Brunson told the reporter.
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Jalen Brunson after Game 5 of the 2026 NBA Finals
Credit: Wu Xiaoling/Xinhua via Getty
Though Hammon, 49, first made her comments about the Knicks star in late 2023, she recently doubled down on them as the team continued to blaze its way through the NBA Finals.
Originally, the Las Vegas Aces coach not only said that the New York City team was lacking an “1A dude,” but also took a dig at Brunson, implying that the 6 foot, 2 inch Knicks guard was too small — a factor that would inhibit the Knicks from securing a championship win.
“If your best player is small, you're not winning,” she said at the time.
When asked about her comments on May 26, Hammon reiterated her point to reporters, saying, "I speak from experience. Allen Iverson got MVP, and he lost in the Finals. I think the two best teams are probably in the West, but I'm up for being proven wrong.”
“That's the other thing, I think Jalen Brunson's a hell of a player, a hell of a player,” the coach, who was listed as 5 feet, 6 inches in her WNBA playing days, continued. “I'm speaking historically on the NBA with what I said.”
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Becky Hammon of the Las Vegas Aces
Credit: Ali Gradischer/Getty
“I don't know why everybody's so stuck on that,” she added of her past comments. “I said it two years ago. I stand by it."
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In the years since Hammon's viral comments about Brunson, the star point guard's contributions to the Knicks have only grown — and culminated in the team's thrilling 94-90 victory over the San Antonio Spurs at Texas' Frost Bank Center on June 13.
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Jalen Brunson in Game 1 of the NBA Finals 2026
Credit: Gregory Shamus/Getty
The Knicks are bringing the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy back to the Big Apple after five decades — thanks in part to Brunson, nicknamed "Captain Clutch,” who finished the nail-biter with 45 points.
Brunson — who joined the Knicks in 2022 after beginning his NBA career with the Dallas Mavericks in 2018 — was reduced to tears as he and his teammates celebrated the win over the Spurs. He also found himself struggling to describe his feelings during the special moment.
“I got no words,” an emotional Brunson, 29, said in a post-game interview broadcast by ABC. He then added that the high-stakes win is "everything I've ever dreamed of."
When asked what he was feeling, the star player responded, "I don't know what I'm feeling. I'm just like, I'm in awe, I don't know. Whenever someone counted us out, we found a way to come back and do something about it."
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