Becky Hammon will be leaving her role with the San Antonio Spurs as lead assistant coach at the end of the season. She will take over as the second head coach of the WNBA’s Las Vegas Aces. The deal makes her the highest paid coach in the league. Hammon played with the Aces when they were known as the San Antonio Stars, and she has been welcomed back to the organization for alumni events, and now as the new coach. Former head coach Bill Laimbeer will stay on in some capacity, but his focus will be on the roster construction for the 2022 season. The Stars moved from San Antonio to Las Vegas and became the Aces in 2017.
Homecoming
Becky Hammon is still part of the history of the team. In her time with Stars/Aces franchise, she is still the franchise leader in assist, three pointers, and and free throws. She also ranks second in both points, and career scoring average. Finally, she is fourth all time in three point percentage.
Additionally, Hammon’s 25 jersey has been retired by the organization, and she was a six time WNBA All-Star selection in her time as a player. She was undrafted and started with the New York Liberty before making the move to San Antonio and made most of her impact there. Hammon said she had never ruled out coming back to the WNBA because that is the league that gave her an opportunity to play.
What This Could Mean
Hammon has been trying to break the glass ceiling in the NBA coaching world for quite some time now. She had garnered some head coaching interest and had interviewed for several teams. At one point, she even interviewed to be the general manager of the Milwaukee Bucks. She was named as a top two finalist for the Portland Trail Blazers head coaching job, and was viewed as the preferred choice by team owner Jody Allen. However, despite her desire to add Hammon, she was somehow overruled by other members of the organization. The Blazers ultimately hired Chauncey Billups for the role. How does the owner of an NBA team get overruled from making a coaching hire? It is baffling.
With Becky Hammon signing a five year deal, this could mean a few things. For one, she may have just accepted that an NBA team is not ready to have a woman lead the charge. Another theory is that the offer from the Aces was simply too good to pass up. With Gregg Popovich nearing the end of his NBA tenure, Hammon seemed poised to have some consideration as the lead assistant.
Final Thoughts
For some reason, the NBA is not ready for Becky Hammon to be a head coach. Instead teams have opted to give the same cycle of coaches opportunities over and over again. Even when those guys flame out for a second or third time, they chose not to circle back to her. Portland personnel cited “concerns” with hiring her, which in part lead to the somewhat questionable Billups hiring. Her former players, most notably Pau Gasol in a Players Tribune article, have gone to bat for her and gave her ringing endorsements to lead a team. She even led the Spurs summer league team to a championship in 2015. I’ve said it before and I will say it again. I am rooting for Becky Hammon to become an NBA head coach, and you should too.
Follow our Twitter
Check out our shop
Buy New & Used Team Jerseys, Sports Apparel, Footwear, & Hats at SidelineSwap.com