Becky Hammon has acknowledged the impossible: Jalen Brunson accomplished what she once said he couldn't. But don't expect an apology.
The Las Vegas Aces coach faced reporters twice on Tuesday, addressing her December 2023 comments on ESPN where she dismissed Brunson as not being a "1A dude," a skepticism framed around the guard's 6-foot-2 frame and questions about whether he could truly carry a championship team.
He did exactly that. Brunson led the New York Knicks to the NBA title over the San Antonio Spurs and was named Finals MVP after scoring 45 points in the clinching game.
"Jalen, all he did was prove history wrong," Hammon said at the shootaround. "He proves he's an outlier, so you can put his name next to Steph Curry and Isiah Thomas. I thought he played brilliantly, especially down the stretch. I mean, he was that 1A dude."
She then drew a clear line on the question of remorse. "But apologize? I'm never going to apologize for having an opinion. That's what ESPN pays me for."
This isn't the first time Hammon has defended her original take. When Brunson was named Eastern Conference Finals MVP after the Knicks swept the Cleveland Cavaliers, she maintained her position without backing down.
"I think Jalen Brunson's a hell of a player, a hell of a player," she said on May 26. "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."
The distinction Hammon draws is worth noting: she's willing to acknowledge Brunson's historic achievement and call herself wrong on the substance, but she's refusing to disown the commentary that got her there. It's a careful balancing act between credibility and principle, between admitting error and defending the right to make bold takes in sports media.
Brunson's rise has already rewritten narratives around undersized point guards in the modern NBA. Whether Hammon's stance on analyst commentary will carry the same weight is another question entirely.
Author James Rodriguez: "Hammon's refusal to apologize while conceding everything about Brunson's greatness rings hollow, and it's exactly the kind of defensive pivot that makes sports media criticism deserve scrutiny."
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