Mikal Bridges says Becky Hammon’s “1A” comments fueled Jalen Brunson to win a championship
This whole stream was crazy
hard R to describe brunson is wiiild
I heard that hard R and ran to the comments to confirm I’m not a schizo. That’s crazy.
Now we know why he never talks lmaoooo
Dude I had to go back a listen again and still thought I was tripping and had to hit the comments to see if my ears worked.
He said knicker
I believe he spells it Nick Kerr.
nah i had to do a double take
Nah it’s just his weird accent and drunk speech.
yeah i didnt hear it dudes just slurring
He was going for a WHILE
this livestream alone was worth 2 picks
And just to be clear, that’s 2 additional picks on top of the 5
Fuck em!
Lmaoooo
Let’s send another pick to Brooklyn as a tip
BE NICE MANNNN
Mikal is going to look back on this stream when he’s sober and love every minute of it
He’s fucking hilarious, I just kinda wanna grab a beer and shoot the shit with him
Mikal been on a legendary live tear, man. Love seeing him feeling himself
I miss this man every day, yall take care of him in NY
https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/s/LBOwuyN1k1
I keep seeing new clips and I like to think Mikal is still drunkenly live streaming.
The link is still live, homie
Edit: he’s fuckin krumping wtf is happening
Why was “too small” even a thing for Brunson? He’s listed at an inch shorter than Curry. Is 6’3 the limit to lead a team for people?
I think her point was even Curry is too small but he is an exception. Like you can’t win a championship if you star player is small unless he’s Steph Curry.
It’s so funny how angry people get about this.
She’s right. Historically speaking she’s right. If you are a GM, don’t fucking build around a basketball hobbit.
Becky thinks size matters.
Brunson happened to be an exception. He’s like..one of two exceptions.
Or that the sample size is too small and the game is too quickly changing to make that kind of statement with confidence. Before Jokic no center had been a fmvp since Shaq in ‘02 or ig Timmy in ‘05 yet criticism wasn’t levied quite as hard towards #1 option centers
I say this all the time - how many 6’3 and under guys are even IN the league? How many are 1A stars?*
Isiah, Chauncey, Steph, Brunson now have all been ‘the best player on their team’ on Championship runs - that’s 8 of the last 38 Rings right there. Then you have things like DWade being 6’3.75, Tony Parkers FMVP, Joe Dumars FMVP (also part of Isiah’s team - so TWO small guards on that repeat/ near threepeat team), and then Allen Iverson’s run, JKidd’s Nets Finals runs…
When you factor in just how few dudes are actually that short vs how many won , the numbers really almost FAVOR them over the last number of years, and increasingly moreso - I mean Brunson and Steph are 2 of the last 5 FMVPs.
And the Jokic comp is perfect for it - no one is telling people ‘You can’t win with a 7ft center as your best player’, despite the fact that it has actually been slightly less common of the last couple decades
*edit
u/mercfan3 your hypothesis is getting fried by the data. What say you?
It isn’t though..the fact that there aren’t that many 6’3 and under guys in the league supports that it’s incredibly hard for them to be 1A guys because size matters.
The most generous answer to “how many players have won the championship as 1A when they are the shortest player on the court” is 4. (Though as much as I love Chauncey I disagree that he was 1A. That team didn’t have one..) That supports the point no matter how many ways people try to twist it.
The 7 footer idea is silly too. First of all, it’s rare to be 7 feet tall. Second of all, until Jokic..if you were 7 feet tall, you were typically (obvious not always - though almost all of the highly skilled or dominant ones won..) least skilled player in the lineup. So yeah - wouldn’t have been smart to make that person your 1A either unless they were skilled or dominant. Meaning this is just a rare situation.
Like, why are people sitting here and arguing that height doesn’t matter in basketball. It’s just silly. And Becky hit a nerve because men are sensitive about size.
Hey so I am absolutely NOT arguing ‘height doesn’t matter in basketball’ - I’m arguing the sentiment that ‘you CAN’T win with a small guard as your best player’.
These are VERY different things, and you seem cognizant enough to not conflate the two/ run into logical fallacies.
So, first off, when you get to higher levels of basketball, height begins to matter much less than skill. Moreso in the modern NBA, where 3’s account for +25% of a teams shots - oftentimes more for these ‘small’ players.
Going further, and relative to your ‘men are sensitive about size’ comment, these players we’re discussing aren’t ‘small’ by standard human definitions. Steph is 6’3; Brunson is 6’2 - I’m 6’2 myself and was literally just at an amusement park yesterday where I can tell you I was taller than nearly ALL of the other people there. Of course, 6’2 people aren’t quite the statistical anomalies of a 7ft human being, but at least in the US they are still considered very tall - taller than around 95% of people. I’ll give you Iverson though; I really don’t think he was even 6ft.
And, respectfully, the ‘besides these 4 guys’ argument collapses on itself (and yes, Chauncey was offensively 1A on that Pistons team) - because when we go by actual titles and the respective best players, again, we’re talking at LEAST 6 of the last 38 Rings (I’ll even cede KD on those Warriors teams, even though I believe Steph was still the true 1A) - so around 13%.
And when we go deeper and just back the last 12 years, we get at least 3 situations that meet this criteria, and again, 2 of the last 5. Because, again, the uptick in 3pt shooting and the spacing it creates alters the way the game is played. I mean, we all just watched an example where a 1A 6’2 player was repeatedly cooking a 1A 7’6 defensive monster in the Finals; I really don’t think we need a better example of how the game has changed.
So, ultimately, the point stands: you CAN win with a ‘small guard’ (by NBA standards) as your 1A. The proof is right there for us to see
It was dumb because he had just dropped 31 ppg against the Heat in the playoffs and the reason they lost was because of players like Randle not showing up. Even then it was feasible that Brunson could be the best player on a championship team but putting together a supporting cast is hard but as the Knicks proved doable.
I don’t know why that dude is tripping but you are right it is harder for small players and it takes more skill and their skill is more visibly apparent. It’s also unlikely for a person to be both that tall and also good at basketball. I just think that while a shorty will have to overcome a lot there is more place for the best of the best to make a difference than has been given credit for.
Is it too small?
Nash, CP3, Iverson, John Stockton, Jerry West, Tiny, Curry that’s the list of All NBA first team short guards.
Who led their teams to a title as the 1a? We established Curry the exception and he needed to bulk up after 2016.
The most simple logic that u/mercfan3 couldn’t comprehend before hitting the enter key.
While I agree I think it’s odd that people are jumping her. History tells more of a story than just height being the problem. Like AI didn’t lose the nba finals in 01 because he was 6’0 he lost because he was playing with Eric Snow 😭.
Bro why you got to do Eric Snow like that.
I just needed to pick a name and unfortunately I chose him 😭I could’ve brought up that he also played with an older Mutombo but my point still would’ve been the same.
i know im just playin lol
Because he was the starting shooting guard throwing up 9pts a game. It’s crazy how ass that team was, you had AI doing the entirety of the offensive load, a bunch of defender roleplayers, old ass Mutombo, and McKie coming off the bench being the only other offensive weapon.
It was more of a joke than anything. Relax.
shit man if you dropped AI on those lakers teams instead of kobe, look out lol
AI + Shaq would’ve been insane
Yeah, Iverson was good enough to win a championship. The Lakers team was better. Nash was good enough to win a championship- the Spurs and Lakers were better plus the officiating and suspensions in 2007 altered the series. Chris Paul was close he was unlucky/at the door and might have come through with slightly better play/teammates.
Historically speaking she’s right. If you are a GM, don’t fucking build around a basketball hobbit.
Historically speaking, if you are a GM, don’t build around a 2nd round pick, who also happens to be a center that isn’t good defensively. How many guys who are thought of as bad defensive centers have been the center for a championship team in the last quarter century? 1, maybe 2 if you want to be unkind to Bynum?
Historically speaking, if you are a GM, don’t build around a 6’11” guy with no jumper as your primary perimeter ball handler. Nobody had won a championship with a player even remotely like Giannis in at least 33 years, since Magic, before he won.
Historically speaking, if you are a GM, don’t build around a 35 year old. Again, it had been at least 35 years since Kareem before LeBron did it.
Many champions are in some way anomalous. That’s why the statement was silly. There are maybe, in any given year, 5 or 6 guys in the world who can realistically lead a team to a championship. Most of them will be in some way unusual, because it’s unusual to be good enough to do that. If anything, having a small guard as your best offensive player is less of a rarity among champions than some of those other things.
3… I don’t know why everyone keeps forgetting Chauncey.
Chauncey was maybe 1A, but he could just as easily be called 1D. Rip and the Wallace brothers being 1A-C in that case.
Chauncey was never the clear 1A even if he was their leader/floor general. The Pistons were definitely a collection of talent seen as greater than the sum of their parts.
Also, in that era, Chauncey was actually viewed as a big guard.
+ Isiah Thomas
it’s hardly an ironclad rule
No, just under 5 out of 80. 😭
lol I mean, maybe try counting that again if you’re gonna frame it that way bub
She said they Knicks were stuck in the mid tier of the east because they don’t have “a guy” and then brought up Embiid as an example.
She didn’t get hate just for the Championship thing, she said he wasn’t good enough for the Knicks to be a top east team.
The Knicks were mid three seasons ago. Brunson literally took less money so the team could get more talent.
In his first season with minimal changes they went from out of the playoffs to the second round.
The talent didn’t start to come until after that
Second round is mid.
Not when you were the worst franchise in the league this century. You have been shining in the light for decades. This was a different level of desperation
She has literally doubled down on that take every single year since it man, even when they made the finals it was “I said win it, not make it”
So you’re gonna argue that size doesn’t matter in basketball.
That’s your take?
No, I am going to say that Brunson is an exception? He is a prolific playoff scorer and consistently shown to be one of the most clutch players in history. Literally 2 weeks ago she still said he couldn’t do it, admit when you’re wrong.
Jalen Brunson is the average height for an NBA point guard. The NBA average for PG is 6’2.
Are we sure this is true? Everyone keeps repeating this like it’s objective fact. 10% of all championships have been won by a team with a small guard as their leader. That’s high considering the fact that small guards as 1A is rare. If anything the data shows that if you have a brilliant small guard you have as good a shot as any team. You also can’t reallt say the reason the 2001 sixers lost is because of Iverson. He just had a crap team. There’s not too many examples of small guard led teams who lost. Am I forgetting some big, obvious examples? I don’t believe Utah should count since their 1A was Malone.
So now it’s leader instead of 1A best player. 😭
Yall will be twisting this and by tomorrow it will be “had a small guy on the team.”
Becky was 100% right about small guards. She was wrong about Brunson but she was right about small guards in general. Historically, they don’t lead their team to championships. It’s literally Steph IT and now Brunson that are the exception.
Mugsy, AI, Curry, now Brunson. Who else?
“She’s right. Historically speaking she’s right.”
Meanwhile:
Zeke did it.
Billups did it.
Curry did it.
Brunson did it.
She was never right. She was ignorant. Didnt know her NBA history.
can you read?
Instead of evaluating talent she looked at his espn bio and said “nah that aint him.” Lazy talking head type shit. She wasnt right. Objectively.
not to mention the Knicks did everything in their power to build size around Brunson to make up for his physical limitations
Thats like just not true lol
The lineups we used Brunson in are pretty standard lol - he always had at least one guy under 6’5 next to him anyways (Hart, Deuce, Shamet, Alvarado, Clarkson) and usually only 1 big.
By playing him next a guy shorter than him 🤣
The knicks 2-5 is not bigger than the league average lmao gtfo here
Isaiah Thomas?? Cmon let’s not forget him. Back to back
He didn’t win one. Isiah did.
You knew who I meant.
I said Joe Mantegna!
😄 Bobbah’s a cheatah!!
Crazy i still agree with her Brunson just proved he’s an exception
Brunson is the other exeptipn, of course she is wrong but tell anyone Brunson would be one of the most ridiculous, well rounded offensive shot makers in the nba. That level of balance, strength, shooting, post work, etc. truly astounding at that height.
People said the same thing about Steph, then said Steph was an anomaly. And the game has changed since Steph had his championship run.
Jalen proved that if you’re Jalen Brunson none of that matters.
Sooo many smaller guards couldn’t get it done as the best player on their team. CP3, Nash, Iverson, Harden, Stockton, Kyrie, Trae, on and on. I hate the Knicks but it’s pretty legendary stuff from Brunson
We really classifying harden as a “small guard”?!?!
I think you’re missing the point
Nah I just have to call out misinformation when I see it.
6’5 220 is no where near “small’ brah
Why would you include 6’5 harden with a dump truck though
For Nash in particular, a couple of his would be championships were specifically thwarted by Tim Donaghy and David Stern. Donaghy even admitted that the head of NBA officials Tommy Nunez instructed all officials to not let the Suns beat the Spurs because of a personal grudge against Robert Sarver. That’s on top of him influencing playoff game outcomes against the Suns.
Then, Stern suspended Amare and Diaw for a crucial game 5 for simply crossing the sideline after Robert Horry hip-checked Nash into the announcers table. They didn’t even enter the scrum, and the next season in the playoffs another team did the same thing and no suspensions. That year, the Spurs swept the Cavs in the finals to win the chip.
This isn’t cope, this is documented bias against Robert Sarver from both officials and the league. I can’t blame them because Sarver is scum of the Earth.
But in my mind Nash being a small guard had nothing to do with him going ringless.
Then, Stern suspended Amare and Diaw for a crucial game 5 for simply crossing the sideline after Robert Horry hip-checked Nash into the announcers table. They didn’t even enter the scrum, and the next season in the playoffs another team did the same thing and no suspensions.
Kendrick Perkins stepped onto the court in the first round against the Hawks:
https://www.enterprisenews.com/story/sports/pro/2008/04/30/celtics-notebook-no-penalties-for/40222156007/
He steps onto the court at the 15 second mark:
https://youtu.be/DQFRnOAcG-0?si=BjJg6KRjhuIgQYBA&t=15
“Great job by the coaches making sure no one came off the benches” lmao great commentary.
Doesn’t mean they weren’t good enough to get it done. The teams just didn’t align. Like the 2018 Rockets would beat this Knicks team.
It’s not to discount what Brunson did, but just understand that others were good enough to win a chip too.
Here is the issue, winning a championship is fucking difficult, maybe not as hard right now given the 8 in 8 years. Yeah all those guys couldn’t win, but you also have Barkley, Harden because he is not actually small, Luka as of right now, Malone, Ewing, Tmac, Reggie, basically name any great player that didn’t win.
And there is your issue, we don’t say well you can’t win if you are tall for those guys, its just not an easy thing to do especially when you are unlucky, when you don’t have good enough teams, when you are up against other all time dynasties like the Warriors and Bron teams or the Spurs, etc. The reason the guys you named didn’t win, has absolutely nothing to do with their height, either they had the problems I mentioned or simply not good enough like Trae
I mean let’s be real, Nash, Iverson, Harden, Stockton literally games or match up away.
Historically yes. There have literally only been three exceptions to that rule: Isaiah Thomas, Curry, and now Brunson.
For obvious reasons those are three great exceptions/outliers and no nba team will change their belief that size matters. People are acting like Hammon was the only person to say this when it’s one of the most common and accepted ideas in the nba
The NBA is a predictable sport. And people take that to make everything a rule. When Jordan, Lebron, Duncan, Kobe, all have 4+ rings across 30 years it makes people think the bar is higher than it really is.
No one lowered the bar for how good your best player has to be after the 04 Pistons won. Took until 2014 for that to be repeated. Then with Tatum, and now again with Brunson. The bar for your 2nd best player was lowered with Draymond or Wiggins in 22. Dylan Harper nearly did it. Bars always been lower than people think.
Jerry West
I think the issue is the double down and changing of the goal posts once the conditions in her initial comment were met. It would be cool if she just said she was wrong.
There’s a difference between ‘size is a factor’ and what Hammon (and others) said. They said no matter how good they are, they aren’t a 1A player who can lead a team to a championship. The Knicks don’t have a 1A player, because the guy who they have is too short to be one.
Also, I think saying ‘only’ three severely undersells how many that is. When you consider how few teams win a Championship, how we are looking at only the best player on those subset of teams, and how NBA players are already rarely that short, it is a great rate of success. If a short guard is good enough be your #1 player, there’s a good chance they’re gonna win one.
What Hammon said is common knowledge and widely agreed upon by everyone who know basketball. Idk why Knicks fans are pretending differently. The championships won by small guards account for 7⁄80 championships ever won which is 8% lol (and was even lower before this season)
I promise you this isn’t something you Knicks fans need to be aggrieved about. It’s very hard to win in the nba with a small guard as your best player. The Knicks and Brunson did it which is a testament to how unique he is and how special their run was. Doesn’t change the fact that it’s hard to seriously contend with a small guard as your best player
kyrie, iverson? wtf
Neither of them led teams to a chip
If we are being honest, that 76ers would probably be 1st rounded in the West by either the Lakers, Spurs, or even the Kings.
three exceptions means its not a rule, there are plenty of cases where you can say “____ kind of player can’t lead their team to a chip, except these three”
I mean it’s 3 in the 50 years or so since the merger.
Nothing personal but this might be the dumbest thing I’ve ever read in this sub. Like window licking crayon eating dumb. Approximately 5,000 players have played in the nba since its inception. 3 out of 5,000 is an exception.
Do you know what exceptions are and how they work?
It’s even a thing right now, there’s a handful of small guards in the top 10 this draft and everyone isn’t too excited about them because they’re 6’2 - 6’4.
I think that’s more than fair, but only because we never saw them play and its hard being a small guard. But what Hammon and all the people said about Brunson after we saw him play was stupid.
Its a talking head platitude in the face of (or in place of) actual analysis. Its really easy to look at a guys bio, see hes 6’ 2” and just go “he cant ball because short” without watching a second of tape.
People really want to spend time defending a professional yapper talking head who said objectively wrong shit for some reason? Shes literally paid money to say random shit about basketball. Its ok to clown on her like has been done with every ESPN talking head ever.
Brunson is more like 6’1
[deleted]
From 1980 to now:
Joe Dumars 6’3, Isiah Thomas 6’1, Chauncey Billups 6’3, Tony Parker 6’2
Won finals MVP outside of those 2
It’s as the best player on the team. Chauncey yes, arguably, but only arguably. TP and Dumars, no way.
That not what OP said before he deleted his comment. He said Curry and Brunson were the only 2 players since 1980 to win finals MVP under 6’4.
Elite Company those two.
And curry shoots much taller than he is.
… What does that even mean?
It’s provocative.
Get’s the people going!
They say he’s probably just under 6’1”
It’s the perception in the league that you gotta be 6’4 or over these days to make it big
No way is Brunson 6’3 , him and alvarado are like the same height.
Because curry and Isiah were the “exceptions” now add Brunson to that list. But two of them are hall of famers and Brunson may very well be there too.
Truly all these figure head interviews just sorta clip farm and say shit. Everyone hated on the signing because it was New York and saying “Brunson waste of money” gets more clicks than “Knicks make a good signing”
If his career ended right now Brunson would be a guaranteed hall of famer
I love that he’s talking his shit and still so respectful even while being drunk as hell. He’s a good dude with a real good heart.
The golden retriever of the Knicks
Was he just alone in his house doing this or what?
He was with his dog hahaha
His dog was SO sick of his shit too. You could tell. Was laying there in the corner trying to sleep and he’s yapping
“Bro either take me for a walk or STFU AND LET ME SLEEP, DAMN.”
What’s the funny part?
I know you weren’t asking sincerely, but there’s a point where you think he’s talking to a friend and then he turns his camera and you finally see it’s his dog. And then at another point he gets on the floor to lay down next to his dog and his dog gets up. He said on the today show that he wants his dog on the float
I just thought you were making fun of him
No I love him!!
Mikal Bridges was cooking everything moving while intoxicated lmao
Dropping hard Rs huh
Hard R while sounding white as hell is a crazy combo
Sounding like JD Washington on BlacKkKlansman!
What does hard Rs supposed to mean? I didnt hear it sorry xD
The n word. With an -a it’s basically the black version of dude, with the hard r it sounds much more racist.
Think he was just drunk af slurring anything with multiple syllables lol
Becky the goat
This live was the best thing ever! Awesome to see his personality
That was a hard ass R
Wait. Did he hit his teammate with the “HARD R?!” Whattt?!?
Mitchell Robinson really rubbing off on Bridges
Mikal is on the sauce and letting it fly lmao
These guys have a great attitude. They just love fuel.
Idk why people are pretending like hammons take was not like very popular for a long time
It was popular up until days ago but it also was something New Yorkers and Knicks fans in general disagreed with and disliked her for years for already.
It just kind of speaks to the general opinion around the Knicks leading up to the Championship which was that non fans had their doubts all along about the ability of this team to win.
Her take is a layperson’s simplified opinion lacking nuance. There’s no law of basketball that dictates smalls cannot win championships.
Her lazy and arrogant opinion caught up to her, and she is held to a higher standard with her position in the NBA/WNBA.
Yeah she leveraged a platitude in place of actual analysis. If shes paid to do analysis and doesnt then fair game no?
Walt Disney lawyers fighting like hell to copyright the letter R
Kind of a hard R no?
this shit hilarious bc i feel like this sub usually always gets weird about someone saying 🥷
haha i love it
Becky deserves a ring!
Mikal really loves him some Nevada
The situation is funny from a lot of angles. In the initial clip, Kendrick Perkins is shockingly the voice of reason and in hindsight, correct. In the recent clip asking her about this segment, she is not reflective at all and can’t wait to get away.
That a small can’t be the best player on a championship team is a commonly held opinion, and the odds back it up. However, for her to think that way is questionable as a veteran PG and current coach - she of all people needs to have the ability to find ways to win in the face of disadvantages on paper.
Might be part of why she didn’t become an NBA HC.
throwback to the suns singing nevada before the game
Mikal still blasting Nevada 🤣🤣 remind me of that time when him, Ayton, and Payne during that one warm up
That was 3 years ago, Max Kellerman made this same take this goddamn season where is the hate for him?
Interview was December 2023 lol
You’re welcome then
Maybe WemB is 1B that’s why he’s so gassed all the time according to spurs fans
Becky won multiple chips with a 6’4” Center though.
The Spurs org can’t stop gifting the Knicks!
That hat leaning more than him
I’m just not sure why anyone cares what Hammon says at all. She has very little idea what wins or doesn’t in the NBA and as an assistant she wasn’t all that impressive or important. If she wants to talk about the WNBA then sure she is for sure an expert. Her time as a Spurs coach wasn’t the winningest time or a time anyone would say the Spurs were growing or getting better
He GONE!!
(Off the drink, not from the team)
This livestream was a spiritual journey.
Tha hard r was mad crazyyy
That was such a crazy take and supercharged the narrative “small players can’t lead a championship team” 🤦♂️
Hard R on the livestream is brazy 💀
bro dropped the hard r
Damnnn with the Hard R?
Call Becky
Look if knicks fans and players want to dunk on everyone, well deserved.
But other people… stop acting like anyone saw this shit coming. The knicks weren’t considered contenders. They were down 2-1 to the Hawks in the first round. The western conference finals was considered the “real nba finals”. Betting lines constantly favored the Spurs until they couldn’t anymore. It was not a common belief that the knicks and Brunson could do this.
Just straight hard R right off the jump lmao I was not prepared
drunk af at 11 am playing youngboy 😭 awesome
What I’m hearing is the Knicks should be thanking Hammon.
Fuck Becky
Hammon couldn’t even win an NCAA championship, let alone two.
you’re saying that as if she doesn’t have three rings
3 rings lol
dollar store trophies don’t count
cool to let us know that you hate women
Did she do that as a player like Brunson did?
Did Gregg Popovich won a ring as a player? No? Luke Walton did tho.
Thanks for the motivation Becky!
Only fitting Brunson got to let his nuts hang in the arena where Becky’s number is retired
Weird lmao
People being mad at Becky is weird cause for basically the entirety of basketball history what she said is true. Knicks have every right to use it as fuel but everyone else is reaching
What she said was true about the past, sure, but what she said was implying it would continue to be true in the future, specifically as it relates to Jalen Brunson and the Knicks.
Becky was speaking directly from a chip on her own shoulder. She led the NYLiberty to 3 finals runs in 7 years and never managed to clench as a player for NY.
[removed]
How many times you gonna make that same stupid comment ?