He got a public apology out of Stephen A. Smith and was dismissive of Draymond Green, but Jalen Brunson is maintaining a strict policy of silence regarding Becky Hammon. Even when directly confronted with them in the media. In a viral video produced by Sports Illustrated, the New York Knicks superstar was handed a tablet and tasked with reacting to various photos summarizing his historic journey. However, the mood shifted when an image of Hall of Famer and Las Vegas Aces head coach Becky Hammon appeared on the screen.

Without missing a beat or allowing room for dramatic media speculation, Brunson immediately dismissed the prompt.

“You see this? Yeah. I’m skipping this. Skipping her,” Brunson stated and really swipes Hammon’s picture of of sight. “Skipping her. Damn.”

The blunt dismissal is the latest example of Brunson refusing to afford a public platform to past detractors. In a separate sitdown with SI, he subtly credited his critics like Hammon for ending the Knicks’ 53-year championship drought

Becky Hammon laid the foundation for it in 2023, when she publicly asserted that “if your best player is small, you’re not winning.”

Jalen Brunson responds to teammate’s clapback at Becky Hammon

Following a historic 2025–26 campaign where Brunson proved the ultimate exception, simultaneously averaging an elite 32.6 points over five games in the Finals, his teammates have been far less reserved about keeping receipts. During a drunken Instagram Live broadcast just 48 hours after the parade, Brunson’s teammate, Mikal Bridges explicitly linked Brunson’s motivation to Hammon’s past commentary. “He ain’t going to tell y’all… He knows what she said. And it fueled him to go be great.”

When pressed directly in a subsequent Sports Illustrated profile to confirm Bridges’s statement Brunson was diplomatic. “I said this after we won,” Brunson remarked while relaxing near the suburban New York studio where he records his Roommates Show podcast. “I didn’t respond then, and I damn sure am not going to respond now. So you guys can take that and do what you want.”

Brunson’s silent treatment perfectly mirrors his address at City Hall during the Knicks’ victory parade

“There are people who have a lot of opinions out there, negative things,” Brunson told the crowd. “But when you’re proving them wrong, you really don’t have to say s— to them.”

While the vindicated Knicks fans across social media will undoubtedly interpret his rapid-fire skip as a direct response to Hammon, Brunson’s focus remains singular: making history rather than validating old television talking points.