Becky Hammon stands by her ‘small player’ take as Jalen Brunson lifts Knicks to NBA Finals

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Las Vegas Aces coach Becky Hammon didn’t completely back down from her assertion a small player can’t lead his team to the NBA championship now that Jalen Brunson has taken the New York Knicks to the NBA Finals.

Hammon made her initial comments on ESPN in December 2023, saying the Knicks couldn’t win the championship if the 6-foot-2 Brunson was their best player.

“If your best player is small, you’re not winning,” Hammon said at the time.

Those comments have generated some buzz after Brunson received the Larry Bird Trophy for MVP of the Eastern Conference finals after the Knicks swept the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday night. He averaged 25.5 points and 7.8 assists in the series.

The Knicks will face defending champion Oklahoma City or San Antonio in the finals.

“I speak from experience,” Hammon said Tuesday. “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. I’m speaking historically on the NBA with what I said. I don’t know why everybody’s so stuck on that. I said it two years ago.

“I said what I said. If he proves me wrong, he proves me wrong.”

Hammon, who has coached the Aces to three of the past four WNBA championships, has a clear rooting interested in the NBA playoffs.

The Hall of Famer played for the San Antonio Silver Stars — who eventually moved to Las Vegas and became the Aces — and later was a Spurs assistant under coach Gregg Popovich.

“Oh, you know who I’m cheering for,” Hammon said.

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