Becky Hammon is apparently going for the modern-day version of Charles Barkley’s take on jump-shooting teams.
Appearing Friday on ESPN’s “NBA Today,” the Las Vegas Aces head coach Hammon had some curious comments about New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson. Hammon, who is working for ESPN during the WNBA offseason, said that the Knicks do not have a “1A dude.” When fellow co-host Kendrick Perkins brought up Brunson, Hammon said that Brunson is “too small” and that a team whose best player is small won’t win anything (with the major exception of Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors).
Here is the full clip.
Becky Hammon: [The Knicks] don't have a dude… you got to have a 1A dude."
Kendrick Perkins: "They do have that dude."
B: "Who?"
K: "Jalen Brunson."
B: "He too small. If your best player is small, you're not winning… Steph Curry is the only dude."pic.twitter.com/XWhJHZXpxT
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) December 21, 2023
That seems like a very broad generalization from Hammon and arguably one that is just flat-out untrue. Throughout NBA history, there have been plenty of non-Warriors teams that have won despite their best player being under 6-foot-5 (the 2006 Miami Heat with Dwyane Wade and the 1989-90 Detroit Pistons with Isiah Thomas to name a couple). Beyond that, Allen Iverson was an MVP winner who brought the Philadelphia 76ers to an NBA Finals, Jason Kidd took the then-New Jersey Nets to back-to-back Finals trips in the 2000s, and John Stockton did the same for the Utah Jazz during the 1990s (albeit perhaps as 1A and 1B with Karl Malone).
On his own merits meanwhile, the 6-foot-2 Brunson has done plenty to suggest that he can indeed be that dude. Brunson is a true three-level scorer averaging a hyper-efficient 25.3 points per game this season (despite having to share the ball with other high-usage teammates like Julius Randle and RJ Barrett). While the results aren’t quite there yet for the Knicks, Brunson did lead them to their deepest playoff run in a decade last season and is only getting better at 27 years old.
Hammon obviously knows her stuff as a Basketball Hall of Famer, a former San Antonio Spurs assistant coach, and a reigning back-to-back champion head coach in the WNBA. But nobody is ever immune to bad takes, and Hammon may be yet another doubter for Brunson to prove wrong.
