{"id":745133,"date":"2026-05-27T07:45:16","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T07:45:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/745133\/"},"modified":"2026-05-27T07:45:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T07:45:16","slug":"allen-iverson-got-mvp-and-lost-in-finals-becky-hammon-doubles-down-on-calling-jalen-brunson-too-small","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/745133\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Allen Iverson Got MVP and Lost in Finals\u2019: Becky Hammon Doubles Down on Calling Jalen Brunson \u2018Too Small\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Right after the Cleveland Cavaliers<\/a> were swept out of the Eastern Conference Finals and the New York Knicks<\/a> punched in their ticket to the Finals, not so old wounds resurfaced. From Brian Dameris\u2019 infamous rant on James Harden<\/a> to slights against Jalen Brunson<\/a> that didn\u2019t age well. Coincidentally, both from 2023. The WNBA legend and head coach Becky Hammon is refusing to back down from her highly controversial basketball philosophy, even as Brunson pushes the Knicks to the brink of basketball immortality.<\/p>\n

In December 2023, Hammon ignited a firestorm on ESPN by boldly declaring that the Knicks could never capture an NBA championship with the 6-foot-2 guard as their primary option, stating bluntly, \u201cIf your best player is small, you\u2019re not winning.\u201d<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

Fast forward to May 2026. A dominant postseason run where the Knicks have rattled off 11 consecutive victories that included consecutive sweeps of the Philadelphia 76ers<\/a> and the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Internet gleefully resurfaced her past comments. However, when The Associated Press caught up with the Hall of Famer on Tuesday, Hammon dug in her heels rather than issuing an apology.<\/p>\n

\u201cI speak from experience,\u201d Hammon defiantly told AP, invoking historical precedent to shield her perspective. \u201cAllen Iverson got MVP, and he lost in the finals. I think the two best teams are probably in the West, but I\u2019m up for being proven wrong.\u201d Getting compared to Allen Iverson has its perks but this is still a backhanded compliment. However, the three-time WNBA champion head coach is open to being proven wrong.<\/p>\n

The Las Vegas head coach expressed bewilderment over why her assessment has remained a focal point of public backlash for over two years. \u201cThat\u2019s the other thing, I think Jalen Brunson\u2019s a hell of a player, a hell of a player. I\u2019m speaking historically on the NBA with what I said. I don\u2019t know why everybody\u2019s so stuck on that. I said it two years ago,\u201d Hammon continued, before offering a final challenge to the New York star: \u201cI said what I said. If he proves me wrong, he proves me wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

The needle is closer to \u2018wrong\u2019 for Hammon. For the first time since 1997, the Knicks are in the NBA Finals. Brunson deserves props for that.<\/a><\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

A small guard defends Jalen Brunson from Becky Hammon\u2019s statement<\/p>\n

Jalen Brunson<\/a> has not spoken on Hammon\u2019s comments, neither in 2023 nor in 2026. It\u2019s unlikely he will either. Becky Hammon is also open to changing her stance if the Knicks actually win the NBA championship for the first time since 1973. For now, her rigid stance has turned Hammon into an immediate lightning rod for a debate on Brunson\u2019s and the Knicks chances.<\/p>\n

While Iverson has been to the Finals once, when the Los Angeles Lakers<\/a> beat the Philadelphia 76ers in 2001, the 6 foot guard is not the end-all-be-all example to generalize \u2018small guards don\u2019t win.\u2019 6\u20191 Isiah Thomas has led the Bad Boy Pistons to two back-to-back championships in the Michael Jordan era. And he was one of the loudest to push back on Hammon\u2019s claim.<\/p>\n

Zeke, who also had a controversial but successful tenure coaching the Knicks once, took to social media to throw direct shade at Hammon\u2019s 2023 comments, arguing that such generalized labels actively damage the reputation of shorter playmakers. \u201cI remember when Coach Becky Hammon went on national TV saying you can\u2019t win with a SMALL guard\u2026 Man, I don\u2019t like those types of statements smh. Keep doing ya thang, Brunson\u2026 We \u2018small\u2019 guards are all rooting 4 ya,\u201d Thomas wrote on X.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

For his part, Brunson is letting his work do the talking. He just swept the Cavs while averaging 25.5 points, 7.8 assists and 3.3 rebounds while shooting 48.7% from the field. He\u2019s been averaging 26.9 PPG these playoffs, one of the many reasons the panel of nine media members collectively voted him the Eastern Conference Finals MVP on Monday night.<\/p>\n

While the Larry Bird Trophy is giving his fans three bragging rights against doubters like Becky Hammon, Jalen Brunson\u2019s goal is pretty aligned with the WNBA legend \u2013 bringing the Larry O\u2019Brien Trophy to New York.<\/p>\n

Trending Articles<\/p>\n

The post ‘Allen Iverson Got MVP and Lost in Finals\u2019: Becky Hammon Doubles Down on Calling Jalen Brunson \u2018Too Small\u2019<\/a> appeared first on EssentiallySports<\/a>. Add EssentiallySports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Right after the Cleveland Cavaliers were swept out of the Eastern Conference Finals and the New York Knicks…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":745134,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3769],"tags":[679,6170,7,3375,193,2955,288,560,150,6,3220,191,678,207,3817],"class_list":["post-745133","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia-76ers","tag-76ers","tag-allen-iverson","tag-basketball","tag-becky-hammon","tag-cleveland-cavaliers","tag-eastern-conference-finals","tag-jalen-brunson","tag-james-harden","tag-los-angeles-lakers","tag-nba","tag-nba-championship","tag-new-york-knicks","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-76ers","tag-philadelphia76ers"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116645430786477959","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/745133","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=745133"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/745133\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/745134"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=745133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=745133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=745133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}