In what could be termed as the breaking of another glass-ceiling, NBA team San Antonio Spurs hired veteran player Becky Hammon as its assistant coach for the coming season. History was made on Tuesday when Spurs named 37-year old Becky as a full-time coach. She has now become the first female to bag the job of a trainer in the world of men’s basketball.
Becky Hammon is currently playing for San Antonio Stars. This is her 16th season in the women’s league. She will soon be formally retiring from the league to join San Antonio Spurs. Hammon apparently made a strong impression on the head coach of Spurs, Gregg Popovich when she worked with the team for a short while last season. He made a statement saying that her work ethic, interpersonal skills and IQ in basketball would surely benefit the team and welcomed her to the team.
This latest addition to the Spurs’ team is the hottest news in the sporting world right now as the NBA has never in its long history hired a woman as an assistant coach. The closest any woman has come before was Natalie Nakase who was in the team of Los Angeles Clippers as an assistant video coordinator last season. Back in 2002, Lisa Boyer who was working as an assistant coach with Cleveland Rockers in WNBA, became a volunteer assistant coach for a brief period of time with the Cleveland Cavaliers. She never traveled with the team, but Hammon is expected to travel with the team during the entire season.
How successful Hammon is going to be, only time will tell, but she has loads of experience that will surely be helpful for the Spurs. She is the leader in the team’s three pointers and the number of assists. Hammon was visibly pleased to hear the news and assured the team that she will do her best for it.