The San Antonio Spurs won the Las Vegas summer league which is a relative non story except for the fact that they had a woman head coach leading them to the Championship. Becky Hammon was an assistant coach for the Spurs last season and although winning the summer league doesn't mean much is now seriously being considered an option for future head coaching jobs around the NBA according to Ken Berger of CBSSports.com.
Gregg Popovich has insisted that he did not bring in Hammon to be an assistant coach as a gimmick, instead he believes she is a very good coach that can help the team win.
"I hired her because she was in my coaches meetings for an entire year because she was injured, she's got opinions and solid notions about basketball. Obviously, she was a great player. As a point guard, she's a leader, she's fiery, she's got intelligence, and our guys just respected the heck out of her, so she's coaching with us, she's running drills," said Popovich according to ESPN.com.
Hammon is now being looked at around the league as someone who could possibly break barriers and be the first female head coach in the league, but it is going to take an organization that is all in on her and isn't afraid to be bold.
Adam Silver has said that there is "no doubt" a woman will eventually be the head coach of an NBA team and Hammon seems as likely as anyone to be the first.
"Why not? She has the qualities necessary, and with an organization's backing, she could do it. She's obviously learned under the best," said an Eastern Conference executive.
As much as Hammon is well respected and learning from the best coach in the league she still might not be ready to be a head coach. Hammon has only had one season of experience as an assistant and, although she was a six time All-Star in the WNBA, she likely needs more time to learn before she is given a shot to run a team.
"I think she has a chance, but I do think it's premature, she's been an assistant coach for one year. From behind-the-bench assistant, there's a pretty long progression before they get a head coaching spot," said an agent according to Berger.
Hammon was a point guard during her playing career and a very good one. Point guards tend to make very good coaches because they are considered the coach on the floor when they're playing and Hammon is supposedly a tremendous leader.
While there is a lot of chatter right now about Hammon becoming a head coach, the reality is that she is still far away from getting that opportunity. Not only does she need more time as an assistant to fully learn how to be a head coach but she also likely needs the perfect situation to be brought into an organziation that will fully support her. The idea of Hammon being a head coach is a nice one to think about, and it still may happen further down the road, but the likelihood is that we are still a few years away from seeing Hammon, or any woman, as the head coach of an NBA team.
