Jalen Brunson, fresh off winning the 2026 NBA Finals MVP and ending the Knicks’ 53-year championship drought, just publicly dismissed Las Vegas Aces coach Becky Hammon with three cold words in a Sports Illustrated interview.
Hammon called Brunson “too small” back in 2023, and Brunson has clearly been keeping receipts. The response came during a photo review segment – and it was surgical.
What Becky Hammon Said About Brunson
Becky Hammon, then an ESPN analyst on NBA Today, told Kendrick Perkins in December 2023 that the Knicks “don’t have a dude” and that Brunson was flatly “too small” to lead a championship team.
She cited historical precedent – naming players like John Stockton, Steve Nash, and Allen Iverson as examples of great small guards who still hit ceilings as primary title engines.
Hammon doubled down repeatedly as the Knicks climbed the standings.
In May 2026, with New York surging toward the Finals, she told reporters: “There’s nothing to clear. I said what I said. If he proves me wrong, then he proves me wrong.”
Full stop. She kept standing on it – right up until Brunson proved her wrong.
Brunson’s Three-Word Shutdown
When Sports Illustrated showed Brunson a photo of Hammon during the interview, he didn’t hesitate.
“You seeing this? Yeah, I’m skipping this. Skipping her,” Brunson said, and moved right along.
No lecture, no extended clap back – just a clean, confident dismissal from a man holding a Finals MVP trophy.
The specificity of the moment is what makes it land. Brunson didn’t need to relitigate the argument or remind anyone of Hammon’s comments.
The skip said everything. It’s the kind of response that goes viral precisely because it sounds exactly like something you’d say at the bar after winning an argument you held for three years.
Why This Exchange Has Real Weight Behind It
Brunson averaged 26.0 points, 6.8 assists, and 3.3 rebounds on 46.7% shooting in the 2025-26 season, then willed the Knicks back from a 29-point deficit at home in Game 4 of the Finals against the Spurs.
His shot with 4.3 seconds left – tipped in by OG Anunoby with 1.2 seconds remaining – is already a franchise-defining moment alongside anything Willis Reed or Walt Frazier ever produced at the Garden.
Brunson is now the fourth player listed at 6’2 or shorter to win NBA Finals MVP, joining elite company alongside Steph Curry and Allen Iverson as the only players that height to average 27-plus points on a Finals team this century.
The Knicks are building aggressively around him, with the roster construction reflecting just how locked in this franchise is on sustaining the championship window. Hammon called him a limitation; New York made him a legend.
Hammon is a credible basketball voice – her Aces tenure and Spurs assistant background give her real standing. That’s exactly what makes Brunson’s dismissal so pointed.
This wasn’t punching down. This was the Finals MVP skipping past the analyst who wrote him off, on camera, with a smile.
What Comes Next
The next hard checkpoint is whether Hammon addresses the Sports Illustrated clip at an upcoming Aces media availability – her pattern of doubling down makes a response likely rather than silence.
Keep an eye out on NYSD for further updates on the Brunson-Hammon feud and the Knicks’ championship offseason as both storylines develop.
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