Becky Hammon: Knicks' Jalen Brunson's Not a '1A Dude'
Even in the WNBA offseason, Becky Hammon can't seem to escape conversations about stopping a sharpshooting, game-changing New York City point guard.
The former New York Liberty star, fresh off back-to-back WNBA titles as head coach of the Las Vegas Aces, spoke about metropolitan men's hardwood fortunes while moonlighting as an ESPN NBA analyst. Hammon began a 16-year playing career with the Liberty in 1999 but has since done battle with the modern group headlined by Sabrina Ionescu as Las Vegas' pit boss.
With the Liberty idle, the New York Knicks (16-11) are the toast of the town this holiday season, as they're fresh off a five-game road trip that ended with consecutive victories over the Los Angeles Lakers and Brooklyn Nets. In the other win of that 3-2 stretch, Jalen Brunson scored 50 points and was perfect on nine three-point attempts on Friday against the Phoenix Suns.
Hammon, however, doesn't feel like the Knicks are ready to enter the Eastern Conference penthouse quite yet.
"They don't have enough personnel, they don't have enough manpower, that they need to hang with (the East's best)," Hammon said on Thursday's edition of "NBA Today" (h/t New York Basketball on X). "I think you're going to get a consistent team, like they've been. They've been a pretty good team, they're well-coached, they're going to be on their defensive game. But, at the end of the day, they don't have a dude. You've got to have a dude, you've got to have a 1A dude and they're missing that at the end of the day, if we're just getting down to brass taxes."
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Hammon's fellow analyst Kendrick Perkins intervenes, claiming that Brunson is "that dude." His theory is cast aside by Hammon, who claims that the 6-2 Brunson is "too small" to be the headliner on a championship group.
"If your best player is small, you're not winning," Hammon declares. "John Stockton, Allen Iverson, Steve Nash, you could go down the list. Steph Curry ... he's the greatest shooter to ever walk the planet."
Another panelist, current WNBA star Chiney Ogwumike, counters by claiming that critics might've said the same thing about Hammon herself and yet she overcame such barbs to reach the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. One could also recall 6-1 point Isiah Thomas, who guided the Detroit Pistons to consecutive NBA titles before residing in the front offices of both the Knicks and Liberty.
Brunson has continued to bury narratives around his professional career by living up to and exceeding every expectation his four-year, $104 million contract from the Knicks placed upon him in the summer of 2022. The point guard has followed up a stellar debut with current career-best averages in scoring (25.3) and rebounding (4.0) as well as three-point success rate (.458).
While it's fair to question whether Brunson can be the headliner for a Larry O'Brien Trophy-hoisting squad, he has at least ensured that the Knicks will linger among the six automatic playoff berths in the East.
Hammon, a member of the Liberty's Ring of Honor, will return to New York this September when the Aces battle the women of seafoam in one of three WNBA Finals/Commissioner's Cup rematches. In the meantime, Brunson will look to establish himself as a "1A dude" on Saturday afternoon, when the Knicks look to get the best of the Milwaukee Bucks for the first time this season (12:30 p.m. ET, MSG).
