The New York Knicks are still basking in the glow of their recent NBA Finals win, which was capped off by a 45-point masterpiece from Jalen Brunson in Game 5 against the San Antonio Spurs. Brunson understandably won Finals MVP for his performance during these Finals, proving many of his doubters wrong in the process.
One of those doubters was WNBA coach Becky Hammon, who famously opined that Brunson wasn’t a “1A” kind of player a couple of years ago, and doubted his ability as a small guard to lead the Knicks to a championship.
Recently, Hammon offered some high compliments to the point guard, but stopped short of a full apology.
“Jalen, all he did was prove history wrong, he proves he’s an outlier,” Hammon said, per Madeline Kenney of the New York Post. “So you can put his name next to Steph Curry and Isiah Thomas, and I thought he played brilliantly, especially down the stretch. I mean, he was that 1A dude. But apologize, I’m never gonna apologize for having an opinion. That’s what ESPN pays me for.”
Hammon’s overall point about small guards typically being unable to lead teams to championships is mostly true throughout history, as Brunson joins an exclusive list, headlined by Curry and Thomas, of players to pull off the feat. It certainly takes a specific type of team to be built around such a player in order to make it all work, and the Knicks have done an impressive job of surrounding Brunson with length, versatility, and shotmaking over the last few years to turn themselves from a playoff team into a champion.
While Hammon did acknowledge Brunson is the rare small guard “1A,” it’s unlikely Knicks fans will let her off the hook anytime soon.
The post Knicks’ Jalen Brunson won’t get Becky Hammon apology after NBA Finals run appeared first on ClutchPoints.
