Spurs Make Becky Hammon the NBA’s First Female Full-Time Coach

Wikimedia Commons/Becky Hammon (CC-BY-SA)

After 16 years playing basketball for the WNBA, San Antonio Stars point guard Becky Hammon is moving on — to the sidelines. To coach male players for the NBA.

Although this is a major move figuratively speaking, Hammon won’t technically be going very far from where she’s been, as she’ll be joining the coaching staff of the San Antonio Spurs as a full-time assistant coach, that team’s Coach Gregg Popovich announced on Tuesday (per The New York Times):

Hammon, 37, becomes the second woman to serve on an N.B.A. coaching staff. The first was Lisa Boyer, who was a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers staff in the 2001-2 season. Boyer, however, worked part time and was not paid by the team. Hammon has been hired to a full-time, paid position.

“Having observed her working with our team this past season, I’m confident her basketball I.Q., work ethic and interpersonal skills will be a great benefit to the Spurs,” Coach Gregg Popovich said Tuesday in a statement.

In addition to her run with the Stars, and previously with the New York Liberty, Hammon played with the Russian national team in the 2008 and 2012 Olympics.

–Posted by Kasia Anderson