Imagine telling an NBA fan back in August that CJ McCollum and Jonathan Kuminga would be leading the Atlanta Hawks past the New York Knicks, all while Trae Young sat at home.
McCollum has been playing the best basketball of his career over the last three games, and Kuminga has readily agreed to come off the bench in the name of team success.
Meanwhile, Jalen Johnson and Nickeil Alexander-Walker are playing their roles perfectly, and the Hawks have taken over as betting favorites in their first-round series.
It’s not for lack of trying. Sure, Mikal Bridges seems to have forgotten how to shoot the basketball, but Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, and Karl-Anthony Towns are all playing as expected. The Hawks just look like the better team.
If only the Knicks were warned about this!
Becky Hammon Is Owed an Apology
Becky Hammon is one of the best basketball coaches ever. From 2014 to 2021, she was an assistant coach with the San Antonio Spurs, rising up the ranks before being named a finalist for the Portland Trail Blazers skipper job.
Instead, she was snubbed for Chauncey Billups in a move that has generally not worked out for the Blazers.
In 2022, she took over for Bill Laimbeer, leading the Las Vegas Aces to three WNBA titles since then. In her spare time, she is a guest on various ESPN talk shows. In 2023, she lit the internet on fire, proclaiming that the Knicks won’t be able to win a title with Brunson leading the way.
“If your best player is small, you’re not winning,” said Hammon, referring to Brunson, who stands at 6-2. “John Stockton, Allen Iverson, Steve Nash, you could go down the list. I’m saying this as a small person: this is a game that favors God-given things. And I love Jalen Brunson, but you’re going to put him on the level of a 1A. You’re putting him with Giannis?”
It’s worth noting that Hammon was a six-time All-Star and four-time All-WNBA player, but as a small guard, she never won a ring. Maybe she knows what she’s talking about?
In the immediate aftermath of her comments, fans online were calling for her head. Granted, Brunson is one of the 12 best players on the planet right now. To her credit, Hammon made sure to give him his flowers. She was not disparaging his individual talent. She was just saying that (for the most part), teams led by undersized guards don’t win titles.
Since he joined the Knicks in 2022, Brunson has played in 45 playoff games. He has averaged an excellent 29.8 points and 6.8 assists in those games, all while shooting 33.8 percent from 3-point range and 45.6 percent from the floor.
Those are excellent markers, but have the Knicks won anything? Nope!
Having a small guard lead the offense usually doesn’t work out, at least not in the quest for rings. The few times it has—like with Stephen Curry or Isiah Thomas—the little guy was either a truly transformational talent or was surrounded with the perfect roster to get the most out of him.
Brunson is really, really good, but he’s not changing the game like Curry did, and the Knicks aren’t nearly as rough and tumble as Laimbeer, Dennis Rodman, John Salley, and Joe Dumars.
Now, is winning a title the ultimate sign of greatness? Yeah, but it’s not the only sign of greatness. Hammon was not saying Brunson is a bad player, she was just saying that his archetype is not conducive to winning.
Based on the Knicks being down 1-2 to the Hawks and having no answer for CJ McCollum, it’s safe to say that Hammon was spot on and continues to be proven right.
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