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NBA Base: Josh Hart took a shot at Becky Hammon, who has yet to apologize for doubting the Knicks' championship leader 👀 “I'm not naming names, but I'm still waiting for somebody to say they was wrong about someone who led our team to a championship in 53 years. I'm still waiting for something. So you know, I know they have media availability, so we'll be waiting for that apology.” (Via @Roommates__Show)
Hart brought those comments back up during his appearance on the Roommates Show via ESPN. He is waiting for her to officially concede on that statement, patiently anticipating the apology. “I'm not naming names: I'm still waiting for somebody––,” Hart said before the crowd chanted Hammon's name. “…to say they was wrong about someone who led our team to a championship…I know they have media availability so we'll be waiting for that apology,” Hart finished.
Bridges held an Instagram live session and said that he appreciates Hammon. He made it clear that Brunson knows her comments and that they motivated him more to silence his critics. “I appreciate (Becky Hammon), no cap,” Bridges said. “The words she said about can’t win with (Jalen Brunson) being a ‘1A’, ‘1B’, ‘he too little’, all that did is fuel that n****, bro. He know what she said.”
Kendra Andrews: Becky Hammon on the Spurs making the NBA Finals: “Sweet, it's awesome…It takes a lot of people doing a lot of things right for to build that. That doesn't just happen overnight…. Obviously, you don't just have a franchise guy in Wemby, you have a generational guy. It’s been really fun to watch them play”
NBA Courtside: Draymond Green doubles down that the Knicks need a true 1A player to win a championship: “Just like Becky Hammon said, prove me wrong. Absolutely double down. Getting out of the East has never been a sure fire thing to winning a championship. What y’all talking about? You’re supposed to get out of the East. It’s the f*cking East!”
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Those comments have generated some buzz after Brunson received the Larry Bird Trophy for MVP of the Eastern Conference finals after the Knicks swept the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday night. He averaged 25.5 points and 7.8 assists in the series. The Knicks will face defending champion Oklahoma City or San Antonio in the finals. “I speak from experience,” Hammon said Tuesday. “Allen Iverson got MVP and he lost in the finals. I think the two best teams are probably in the West, but I’m up for being proven wrong. That’s the other thing, I think Jalen Brunson’s a hell of a player, a hell of a player. I’m speaking historically on the NBA with what I said. I don’t know why everybody’s so stuck on that. I said it two years ago. “I said what I said. If he proves me wrong, he proves me wrong.”
“I speak from experience,” Hammon said Tuesday. “Allen Iverson got MVP and he lost in the finals. I think the two best teams are probably in the West, but I’m up for being proven wrong. That’s the other thing, I think Jalen Brunson’s a hell of a player, a hell of a player. I’m speaking historically on the NBA with what I said. I don’t know why everybody’s so stuck on that. I said it two years ago. “I said what I said. If he proves me wrong, he proves me wrong.”
Isaiah Thomas: I remember when Coach Becky Hammond went on national TV saying you can’t win with a SMALL guard… Man I don’t like those type of statements smh. Keep doing ya thang Brunson… Us “small” guards all rooting 4 ya #Lefty
The Las Vegas Aces defeated the Phoenix Mercury 97-86 in a dominant performance Friday night to win their third WNBA championship in four years and cement their status as the league's reigning dynasty. The Aces completed a four-game sweep of the Mercury in the first best-of-seven WNBA Finals in league history. Aces superstar and four-time league MVP A'ja Wilson led the way in Game 4, finishing with 31 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 blocks en route to earning Finals MVP honors. She averaged 28.5 points, 11.8 rebounds and 2 blocks in the Finals. "You have your Mount Rushmore, she's alone on Everest," Aces coach Becky Hammon said. "There's no one around."
Becky Hammon doesn’t think the physicality in the Indiana Fever-Las Vegas Aces WNBA playoff semifinal series would fly in any other league. And that’s coming from a coach who has multiple years of experience as an assistant in the NBA, who has assistants on her staff with even more NBA experience.
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“Most of my assistants come from the NBA, and they're like, ‘This would not fly in the NBA. This level of physicality would not fly in the NBA. There'd be fights. There'd be fights,’” Hammon said following Las Vegas’ 90-68 win over Indiana on Tuesday night. “We just have very well-mannered women that can get to the next play, but there would be fights. I'm not concerned, because I know we'll keep our composure. But I mean, I don't understand. I don't get it.”
Despite her previous ties to the Spurs organization, Hammon is quite content in the WNBA. "I'm super happy where I am," Hammon said. "This opportunity for me, I couldn't pass on it. ... I bet on myself instead of maybe waiting it out for a maybe [in the NBA]. I've enjoyed being back on the women's side. You guys know I'm effusive about my love for this team and being back in the women's game."
Natalie Nakase knew she had the opportunity of a lifetime. After years of serving as an assistant coach — in the G League, NBA, and ultimately the WNBA — she had finally achieved a longtime dream of leading her own team. At last, the 44-year-old former UCLA point guard would be a head coach, selected to lead the WNBA’s incoming expansion team, the Golden State Valkyries. Nakase, who was previously an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Clippers (2018-2020) and Las Vegas Aces (2022-24), has no shortage of experience on the bench. Under Clippers coach Ty Lue, she earned the respect of dozens of NBA players. Under the leadership of Becky Hammon, she won two WNBA championships alongside some of the best players in the sport. To this day, she credits Hammon for helping shape the WNBA into the league it is today — and for giving her a career-altering opportunity. Still, in the wake of her hiring in Golden State, there was someone else in the coaching world Nakase was eager to get to know: Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla, who just a few months earlier had become the youngest head coach in the NBA to win a championship since Bill Russell did so in 1968 at age 34.
“My biggest thing was: how can I pick the brains of head coaches that win quickly?” Nakase told SB Nation in an exclusive interview. Nakase and Mazzulla had never met. But, the two shared a common background; both were undersized, tenacious guards on elite college basketball teams, Mazzulla at West Virginia (2006-2011) and Nakase at UCLA (1998-2003). Both later rose through the ranks in the G League. A close mutual friend also bound the two coaches: Celtics assistant coach Sam Cassell, who previously worked alongside Nakase on the Clippers.