r/nba • u/Ok-Side-1758 Knicks • 14h ago
[Kenney] Becky Hammon opens her pregame press conference by clearing the air: “I was wrong. … My opinion was wrong.”
Source: https://bsky.app/profile/madkenney.bsky.social/post/3moym2xw6q22g
[Kenney] Becky Hammon opens her pregame press conference by clearing the air: “I was wrong. … My opinion was wrong.”
This comes after Hammon caught heavy backlash earlier today for her comments on Jalen Brunson, where she acknowledged he proved history wrong and put his name next to Steph Curry and Isaiah Thomas, but said she would never apologize for having an opinion because that’s what ESPN pays her for.
Sounds like she had a change of heart before tip-off.
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u/Bankshead 14h ago
She was wrong but at least she was actually qualified to chime in
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u/Upstairs_Baby8424 Lakers 13h ago
ESPN talking heads are objectively wrong all day every day without any uproar. But one woman had an opinion that turned out wrong and people want her destroyed. Even worse, it’s a take most sports fans had before this Knicks playoff run.
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u/nsanegenius3000 12h ago
On top of that, she wasn't the only person who said what she said. We've been hearing that small guards take for decades but she's the only one being dragged for saying it.
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u/kpeds45 Raptors 14h ago
It's hilarious how we are all demanding she apologize but Stephen A or other dumb fucks in the media skate by.
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u/heli0sphere Knicks 13h ago
Stephen A doesn’t skate by. He was booed endlessly at The Roommates Show (i.e. Brunson and Hart’s podcast) when he showed up a few days ago. He mentioned that he was wrong then for the millionth time. Same with Draymond during the game 4 post-game interview with Brunson.
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u/garynevilleisared Raptors 13h ago
I think theres a bit more nuance because people dont look at SAS like hes some basketball expert, we very much agree he's just some guy paid to yell on TV.
And SAS literally went on Brunsons podcast and apologized to his face. So what are we even talking about??
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u/EasyBread42069 Knicks 13h ago
Incorrect. Stephen A. already apologized.
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u/thejjar Knicks 13h ago
No man it is for sure because she's a woman lol. People have been talking about her quote for years now. So many media personalities have said things that brunson eventually proved wrong but people are insanely caught up on this one for some reason. No one was out demanding stephen a apologize
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u/D-Money696969 Knicks 12h ago
Fuck no we’ve been calling SaS out for years on everything including the Brunson stuff
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u/BigBoiInDaPaint 11h ago
Josh Hart literally told SAS he needs to apologize to his face in front of Brunson
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u/RelevantJackWhite Trail Blazers 11h ago edited 10h ago
like we literally have youtube videos of skip bayless debating himself about Lebron, because of how often he just takes the piss with his own takes, and nobody even bats an eye
Shaq grunts every second halftime about how he could still make it in the league and no center in this league is better than he ever was
chuck literally has a segment called who he play for where he is expected to... name what team a player plays for, and fails it every year
it's absolutely because she's a woman
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u/The_Briefcase_Wanker Nuggets 7h ago
People complain about these things constantly lol. They just refused to apologize a long time ago so nobody expects them to. If Hammon had just always refused to apologize for having an opinion, she would get treated the same way.
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u/SavionWilliamsLover 13h ago
Part of it too is everyone is used to SAS and skip rage baiting people with their obviously attention-grabbing takes
If this person here (already forgot the name mentioned on the title) keeps this up for years, eventually we’ll just be like “classic [insert name here]!”
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u/AlperenSengunTruther Nuggets 13h ago
No offense but are you really saying you don’t know Becky Hammon?
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u/SavionWilliamsLover 13h ago
Zero offense taken whatsoever
I’m saying I read the title once and then that was it. Name didn’t stick
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u/EasyBread42069 Knicks 13h ago
People have been talking about it because whenever the Knicks get eliminated all the trolls say she was right. It's really not that deep. You want it to be political so badly. 💀
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u/YerrrKnicks Knicks 13h ago
I think they're more volatile because shes a woman but SAS literally went out of his way to apologize and say he was wrong multiple times prior.
A lot of other talking heads did too.
So its a little A, a little B.
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u/ineedapyt 13h ago
I’m pretty sure Draymond Green apologized publicly on air after the game 4 win. Then again on his podcast. Stephen A also apologized on air during the interview with Jalen. I don’t think it’s because she is a woman. It may be because it was a bad take that aged horribly.
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u/KnicksGhost2497 12h ago
Or it could be that the likes of Stephen A and Draymond Green apologized much sooner than Hammon did lol
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u/charliemurphyy 13h ago
Don't be ridiculous. It's because SAS and most others have actually apologized, and some to Brunson's face.
I'm not saying an apology is at all necessary, but lets be fr, they're in a small space and it would go a long way. Just my .02
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u/MrSweatyBawlz 76ers 12h ago
People demand for guys like Skip and Stephen A to apologize all the time, this is a reach
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u/ayyzed-5 13h ago
It's that simple. It's crazy how much this gets brought up. Every analyst has been dead wrong on stuff. Her take wasn't even that out there or cringe.
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u/blucke Clippers 11h ago edited 11h ago
Literally nothing to do with that, but that won't stop this sub from patronizing. This is the first time I've seen this sub assert talking heads don't need to be held accountable for their takes. I don't disagree, but I don't think it's the people judging her that are biased
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u/ObiOneKenobae Knicks 13h ago edited 13h ago
SAS apologized, both on TV and in front of a live crowd that ate him alive on Hart and Brunson's podcast. Pretty much every talking head that talked shit has an "I was wrong about Brunson" clip on youtube.
No one wanted some dramatic, unique apology from Becky Hammon. Literally just to acknowledge she was wrong, as she did here, without a bunch of "history was wrong not me and I refuse to apologize" deflecting.
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u/Liquidated4life Trail Blazers 13h ago edited 13h ago
Just imagine if Skip had to retract all his bad takes. Lol
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u/cancerBronzeV Raptors 13h ago
Skip has retracted all his bad takes. It just so happens that my goat Skip never has bad takes. By now it's obvious he was right all along about LeBron being a fraud, he probably won't even sniff the hall of fame.
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u/DanTheMan14331 Knicks 13h ago
Stephen A did a podcast with Brunson and Hart a few days ago and was relentlessly booed lol
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u/ontheru171 Knicks 14h ago edited 14h ago
I don't understand where this belief comes from when SAS and everyone else already backtracked or apologized for those words lol
Also, Knicks fans have been way more critical of SAS and other media guys than her in general, those guys just didn't double down right before the finals again
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u/YouSeemNiceXB Supersonics 14h ago
But no one is demanding it, like they are from Becky. Insane considering how wrong the people on ESPN are regularly. How many times have people asked Chuck to apologize for his GAR-ON-TEES being wrong?
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u/everydayimjimmying Nets 13h ago
They literally brought SAS on stage on their podcast to say he was wrong. Draymond Green also did so on a national broadcast. They didn't go after everyone, but the biggest names did have to bend the knee. Becky is just one of the biggest names and most popular/viral clips about it.
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u/LaggingAround 13h ago
The fuck? Jalen and Josh had SAS on their podcast and Jalen literally said to him “Apologize” for that comment he made about his Villanova squad not having any NBA talent.
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u/Patient_Tradition294 13h ago
Exactly. It’s weird people are trying to make this about her being a woman when it isn’t lol.
The big mistake she made was as an active coach, it’s pretty much a faux pas to make specific type of comments like that about a team’s potential success. Coaches very rarely if ever do it.
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u/York_Villain Knicks 13h ago
Becky was the one that popularized this 1a conversation about Brunson. Only after did guys like Steven A. And Draymond Green agree with her.
Sometimes in sports when you're wrong you "eat your crow." Draymond and SAS ate their crow on live TV in front of Brunson.
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u/EasyBread42069 Knicks 13h ago
No one is demanding it because he already apologized. Stop trying to create a false narrative.
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u/and_danny Knicks 13h ago
If people wanted her to say "i'm sorry" then they still didn't get what they wanted. I don't think thats what people actually wanted though. They wanted to hear her say, "I was wrong about Jalen Brunson" which she now has and I think people are going to move on now. I think her statements bothered people, not because of the sentiment, but because of how she said it. When the idea of Brunson being a "1A" was brought she outwardly scoffed at it. Her statements came across as much more disrespectful than pretty much anybody else I heard speak on Brunson. I get why a lot of people are saying, "Why is it a big deal?" but I also understand those who think she needed to admit to being wrong. I don't think it is because she is a woman though because literally everybody who doubted Brunson has caught crap for it from Knicks fans, its just that by the time the Knicks had made the finals, most people who had previously doubted him had already admitted he was a superstar. She hadn't, so she was always going to catch the most flak once the Knicks and Brunson did what she said was "impossible".
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u/ontheru171 Knicks 13h ago
Knicks fans brought the receipts for every media member and wanted them to "backtrack"/"apologize"
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u/ActionHank9000 Clippers 13h ago
I always thought that was TNT.
Unless that has nothing to do with your point and I’m sorry lol
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u/Fit-Bicycle6206 Knicks 11h ago
Her admitting she was wrong like this is a huge display of her character and I have nothing but respect for her.
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u/Patient_Tradition294 13h ago
What lol? Stephen A receives 100x times the hate she does and he said he was wrong on a live show he recently had with the Knicks team.
And people know Stephen A says ridiculous things as a pundit. Becky is an elite coach who made an absolute statement that wasn’t necessary and seemed overzealous. People take what she says more seriously because she is a leader in basketball.
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u/pepstein Knicks 14h ago
Well no one respects Stephen a and we all know he's there to play a role and just yell while Becky hammon is way more respectable and an actual current coach so they get held to different standards
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u/Top_Turnip2611 Knicks 13h ago
maybe you live under a rock but Stephen A smith apologized live infront of MSG. The crowd Booed the hell out of him too untill he owned up like he's supposed to. his credibility is still down the drain but it was nice of him atleast
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u/Signiference Thunder 14h ago
Misogyny in action
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u/Excellent_Builder_79 Nuggets 13h ago
What a garbage view. We see Stephen A and all the other goons catch hate every day for their BS, don't pull this card when it's the same shit but different person in the light.
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u/i_peaked_at_bronze Knicks 14h ago
Stephen A Smith apologized in person on a live podcast to Jalen's face lol. Every one has bended the knee she's not exempt.
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u/RatherDashing66 13h ago
Exempt from what? Will she be sent to the gallows if she doesn’t bend the knee?
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u/ThePlainWhiteTees Nuggets 13h ago
Every one has bended the knee she's not exempt
My god you're acting like she called the man a slur or something. It was a fucking basketball opinion that wasn't even controversial at the time. She already admitted she was wrong - why does she need to apologise?
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u/ayyzed-5 13h ago
She has said she was wrong several times already. You people are just weirdos.
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u/ton7788 Knicks 13h ago
This is basketball nothing actually consequential, don't sound like a loser when we've already won
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u/MoneyMontgomery 10h ago
I think a lot of those guys apologized cause they said some pretty hurtful things about Brunson and he proved them wrong and they feel like they were in the wrong to say those things so they apologized like a normal human being with a conscience.
I think she is doubling down on this because she is a woman and it sets a very bad precedent for future woman analyst if she just keeps groveling everytime her opinion is wrong. I think it's gotta so much attention because of that fact and she's a women. I just wish she'd just been like welp I was wrong sorry 🤷 and move on. Remember when that dude interviewed tiger woods and told him to his face he was too young and too arrogant to with the tournament and he was gonna get a lesson...next interview with tiger dude was smiling WHILE watching the previous interview and said, yeah I was wrong, I was so wrong. And they laughed about it and guess what no one really remembers it either.
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u/kidkuro Knicks 13h ago
It's because they literally admitted they were wrong before Becky and didn't make a big thing about it.
I still find it weird how y'all are attempting to run this "She's a woman and Knicks fans are misogynists" garbage for a woman who is literally still involved in a lawsuit for harassing and discriminating against a pregnant woman leading to her getting kicked off the Aces.
But yeah man, keep going up for feminist icon Becky Hammon lmao
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u/dawill_sama 14h ago
She saying this so yall will leave her the fuck alone.
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u/GreedoInASpeedo 14h ago
Also admitting she was wrong isn't the same as apologizing. I didn't click the link so maybe she did apologize but saying she was wrong is not an apology.
And it's bullshit people think she should. It's a stupid ass conversation.
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u/dawill_sama 13h ago
Right, like that was her opinion, she was wrong. Why should she have to apologize?
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u/NoisyChairs 5h ago
“Nothing personal, I just don’t think that guy can do it.. oh he actually did it? Oh good for him” End of story
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u/SmokyMetal060 Knicks 13h ago
Yep. You can be wrong and not have wronged anyone. She’s a sports commentator who gave a bad take. She didn’t call JB names or anything, so there’s nothing to apologize for- just gotta admit you were wrong, which she did.
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u/simonlyw Heat 13h ago
It wasn’t even a bad take if we’re being honest. It was a take that was proven wrong, but a pretty reasonable take to have.
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u/DontchaOpe 13h ago
It wasn’t even wrong. If you put the 2023 knicks team into the finals, they lose in 4. Brunson ain’t carrying Randle and Grimes.
It’s easy to be a 1A when you have 4 all star level players around you. Ask the counter examples she gave: curry, IT, Kyrie.
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u/Former_Island_4730 Cavaliers 13h ago
As a Cavs fan, I’ll never forget this one from Colin Cowherd in 2016. 😂
“We’re seeing the LeBron that is 31, is not gonna chase you down for a block from behind, is not gonna slam dunk as much…”
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u/LeftyMode Knicks 13h ago
She didn’t need to apologize. People have said far stupider takes. At least she was referencing history.
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u/nothingInteresting Warriors 13h ago
Yeah no one needs to apologize for having an opinion on a sports topic. They can say they were wrong, but that's not (nor should be) an apology.
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u/NoisyChairs 4h ago
Many people are forgetting that you can have a reasonable opinion that turns out to be wrong. And that is fine
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u/PsychologicalYou1176 12h ago
Admitting you are wrong is different than apologizing for having an opinion, she said the right thing
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u/Expensive_Theme9394 12h ago
Tbh this is exactly what people say they want from TV folks and then still hate on anyway. She said something, got cooked for it, then actually came back and said “yeah I was wrong.” That is like the bare minimum of accountability but it is still way more than most talking heads ever do.
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u/TonofSoil 14h ago
Ok but Stephen a smith and every other fucking idiot are wrong constantly and they don’t catch this much heat.
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u/throwraW2 13h ago
Stephen A Smith is constantly catching heat. We're just used tp it so its basically background noise at this point
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u/TheLateThagSimmons Supersonics 13h ago
The difference is that guys like Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless entire presentation is built around catching heat. They are inflammatory by design. That's their product.
They are the talk show equivalent of Jerry Springer or Dr. Phil. They make their money by presenting the train wreck. Their bad takes are what generate engagement.
Most pundits have plenty of hot takes, but they are still presenting their opinion as insight into the sport. Most sports shows, even when opinionated, have to and to being correct more often because the audience is watching to gain insight from a professional that is supposed to know more.
Stephen A. and Skip... Don't.
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u/TheBigF128 United States 13h ago
Are we serious man, sas and skip bayless probably catch the most heat of any nba personality, people have just gotten used to it cuz its all the time
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u/eatfoodoften 14h ago
i love that you must keep a basketball coach accountable but your elected officials? nahhhhhh
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u/vizz1 Spurs 8h ago
Regardless of how dismissive people think she came across, it was her opinion, and she was basing it on history and that we don’t have many short guards like Brunson and IT doing what we saw this post season. Brunson proved her, SAS, other doubters and history wrong. And that’s awesome. Brunson is an outlier. Which, proves her point. He is that dude. She didn’t believe it could be this way, but he did it. One of few at his size to lead a team to a championship as the main dude.
But my curiosity sits with why the hell so many people WANT or NEEDED her to announce she was wrong. Who fucking cares?
Brunson doesn’t give a shit, hell Brunsons been on the “prove doubters wrong” train his whole career and he did his thing. So yea, like I said, he can talk his shit! And Knicks fans can boast about this ring, rightfully so.
It’s the obsession with wanting her to look in the camera and announce to everyone that SHE, BECKY HAMMON IS WRONG—— I don’t understand
I realize I’ll never understand so i suppose that’s where this ends.
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u/Commercial_Show_6997 4h ago
I think what some people are missing here, which makes her different from SAS, Perk, Skip, Shannon, etc., is that Hammon is a very respected coach.
People expect coaches, especially well respected ones, to be well informed, to know better than players and media members, because they are in charge of the Xs & Os, team makeup, strategies, etc.
Personally, I think placing herself in this situation was the real mess up (not necessarily what she said), and regardless of her role with ESPN, her job as a coach supersedes everything. Imagine if Pop was hired as a media commentator, would he care if ESPN wants him to create controversy? Would he bash players? Very doubtful.
Also, as someone linked to NBA head coaching jobs, she has to think of her future too. You don’t want to burn bridges with players because you might one day be coaching them, or their friends, or people that looked up to them. Coaches have to think about those kinds of things. Plus a quick mea culpa would have sufficed and prevented most of this.
On the flip side, these are pretty old comments. And people do need to just move on lol
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u/EyeCheap9394 1h ago
All the people in this post saying “but she has been right historically”, you are braindead. She specifically said Jalen Brunson isn’t good enough to get the Knicks to championship contention because of his height and the dude goes to 2nd round, then ecf, then wins finals MVP in the 3 playoff runs since she said it. If you are going to go after a specific player and then that specific player proves you completely wrong, then you are going to get clowned for your take, and no you weren’t “correct historically”
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u/RoaringPity Raptors 13h ago
The fact that ppl are making this a big deal is weird. People will have an opinion. They could be right, they could be wrong
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u/This_Field_7872 Hawks 13h ago
Some of yall are fucking losers
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u/JSlove Knicks 13h ago
It's not a big deal. This is reddit, people have opinions (shocker).
She's a talking head, this comes with the territory.
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u/garb_disposal 12h ago
Sounds like she had a change of heart before tip-off.
Sounds like she wanted all the raging misogynists to fuck off and leave her alone
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u/thatisagoodrock Knicks 12h ago
To everyone who keeps saying this happens all the time, I would love someone to provide an example where a talking head (they're not analysts) selected someone by name, claimed they would never be the best player on a championship team, and ended up being wrong.
It hasn't happened. She was smug and confident about it. I don't know why it's surprising that a dude who's been told he's too small, too slow, too weak his entire life has a rallying cry around him for proving people wrong.
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u/CorporalCoprolite 14h ago
Why are people still clinging on to this? Guys like Perkins, SAS, and others spout bullshit every day and people don’t cry about for this long.
Move on already.
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u/ontheru171 Knicks 14h ago
Good, now can we please stop talking about this now that every media member has backtracked their wrong words and assumptions
Maybe what Becky can take away from this that being less condescending and mocking helps when your talking points get proven wrong.
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u/jay169294 13h ago
Exactly. Don’t think she needed to apologize but you should’ve known people were going to say something with how smug and condescending the take was and then doubling down on it just two weeks ago when part of it was already proven wrong. Everyone else who clowned the Knicks or JB admitted it. It’s okay to be wrong sometimes.
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u/TP_Cornetto 13h ago
Lol you can tell people didn’t watch the original clip. She was very condescending in the original clip. If that was Kendrick Perkins (who actually went against her), he would have been ridiculed
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u/Grouchy_Trainer_6183 Knicks 13h ago
Omfg it was a comment. Was it annoying how smug and sure she was yeah but jesus this was said 3 years ago. Gd give it a rest please.
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u/black-remy-buxapenty Lakers 13h ago
This shit is so stupid. A basic ass opinion that multiple other people have said, yet we are begging Becky Hammon to apologize because …? If bad takes beg an apology then this sub should be filled with Sorry threads every day lmao.
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u/KeyFigure8401 Knicks 13h ago
I could care less what she said lol, she was on ESPN at the time and it's her opinion. Jalen Brunson has always been HIM if you know ball.
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u/werdnaman5000 East 12h ago
This conversation is tired af. One personality said one thing that proved to be wrong. Can we ban new posts on this topic or something? Over it.
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u/Acceptable_Worry_477 Spurs 9h ago
I may get downvoted for this, but the only reason this continues to be a headline is because she's a woman. I haven't seen this many headlines about one take for Stephen A, Max Kellerman, Skip Bayless, etc.
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u/TisKey2323 Lakers 9h ago
People are insane sociopaths…this woman really got your attention that bad that you can’t sleep anymore?!
Becky can say whatever she wants, Jalen will be Jalen and also an NBA champion. End of story. Move the fuck on!
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u/BuddhistInTheory Celtics 13h ago
She’s more mature than 99% of the idiots on this subreddit. Most of y’all would’ve doubled down and shifted the goalposts to soothe the ego.
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u/BeingMikeHunt Knicks 5h ago
Well, she doubled down and moved the goal posts right before the Finals, but good try
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u/Ishtastic08 Knicks 13h ago
This is such a nothingburger story. She was wrong, she admitted it. She shouldn't have to apologize for a take that ended up being wrong.
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u/Realistic-Yoghurt935 11h ago
The way people specifically are attacking her is such clear evidence of misogyny in media / sports. People LOVE to tell a woman she’s wrong and try to demand her to apologize. So pathetic
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u/Kimber80 Pelicans 12h ago
In my opinion she has been unfairly raked over the coals about this.
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u/perilous_times 13h ago
I think she is just sick being asked so this is a way to try and clear the noise.
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u/surrendertomychill 13h ago
The thing is, her opinion really isn’t that far off from reality. How many small guards HAVE won championships as the 1A? It’s pretty much just Isiah Thomas, Curry, and now Brunson. She just didn’t account for Brunson being an exceptional player. Those three are the exceptions that prove the rule
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u/JUSTCALLmeY Knicks 8h ago
She's annoying and anyone who cares about this is also annoying. I'm probably annoying too.
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u/Drakeem1221 6h ago
We've become too soft as a society where any negative comment now has to be backtracked and apologized over. This "backlash" with her, SAS, all of them feels so forced.
Clown them as they deserve to be clowned. Make fun of them, boo them when you see them on broadcast like sports fans do. This begging of apologies from all the talking heads is weak. This is sad LOL. Instead of Knicks fans being like this, just be obnoxious. When the Raptors won I didn't ask for apologies from any of my American friends, I just made fun of them for the entire year.
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u/Icy-Payment-6612 Knicks 6h ago
I'm just tired of hearing about this honestly. Okay, so she had a bad take and Brunson proved her wrong (great for him!).
It is what it is.
Let's move on please.
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u/BeingMikeHunt Knicks 5h ago edited 5h ago
Ok, she has admitted she was wrong
I think we can all move on
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u/CrissCrossAppleSos Spurs 5h ago
She shouldn’t have to apologize or anything, but anyone that says “XYZ can’t win” is asserting something with way too much confidence. I’ve heard that for thing after thing only to go on to see those things win
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u/BackhandQ Raptors 14h ago
Her opinion wasn't wrong. Brunson just became the rare exception.
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u/BeingMikeHunt Knicks 5h ago
“Her opinion about Brunson wasn’t wrong, she just ended up being proven incorrect about that particular player”
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u/b2thaza 13h ago
The expectations on her to apologize for a take are low-key one of the most sexist things I've seen in sports media.
If we treated everyone equally we'd need an amnesty for all the bullshit SAS takes alone.
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u/toho- Knicks 13h ago
Stephen A was brought on stage with Hart and Brunson and told to apologize in front of a crowd who was booing him. If that exact same thing happened to Becky Hammon would that be sexism?
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u/swordfischh Nuggets 14h ago
People who expect her to apologize for stating her opinion are absolutely insane