J-Speaks: Major NBA History Made In San Antonio Texas

Normally when four-time Kia MVP and four-time NBA Finals MVP of the defending NBA champion Los Angeles LeBron James reaches another milestone in his eventual Hall of Fame career, that would normally be the top story of the game. On Wednesday night when he reached another National Basketball Association (NBA) milestone, that historic moment was overshadowed by the history made by a Spurs assistant coach.

In the Lakers (4-2) 121-107 win at the Spurs, where James had 26 points, eight assists, and five rebounds on 11 for 23 shooting becoming the first player in NBA history to score in double figures in 1,000 consecutive games was upstaged when at the 3:56 mark of the second quarter when Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich was ejected by official Tony Brown for screaming and entering the court following a non-call on a All-Star DeMar DeRozan’s layup attempt and subsequent rebound by big man Drew Eubanks and pointed to assistant coach Becky Hammon to lead the team.

Hammon coached the team the remainder of the game, becoming the first woman in NBA history to act as head coach in a regular-season game.

As the changed happened, Coach Popovich’s succinct message as he was exiting the floor of the AT&T Center to the applause from the Spurs family members in attendance in the arena, which Hammon said in her postgame presser was “You got ‘em.”

“He officially pointed at me. That was it. That was it. He said, ‘You got ‘em,’” Hammon, whose been a Spurs assistant coach for seven seasons added. “See? He doesn’t treat us any differently than he does you guys,” she added.

“Obviously, it’s a big deal. It’s a substantial moment. I say this a lot, but I try not to think about the huge picture and huge aspect of it because it can be overwhelming. I really have had no time to reflect. I have not had time to look at my phone. So, I don’t know what’s going on outside the AT&T Center.”

“It’s my job to go in there and be focused for those guys, and make sure I’m helping them do the things that will help us win.”

While Hammon tried to downplay the historic moment that took place late in the second quarter on Wednesday night, this was a major moment for the six-time WNBA All-Star, who played 15 years in the WNBA for the New York Liberty and San Antonio Stars after going undrafted out of Colorado State University.

The coaching journey for the 2015 Colorado Sports Hall of Fame Inductee to being the first full-time female assistant coach in NBA history in Aug. 2014 began after tearing her ACL in her left knee in the Stars game against the Los Angeles Sparks on July 13, 2013. In her year-long rehabilitation, Hammon attended several Spurs practices, coaches’ meetings, and games, where Coach Popovich frequently invited to contribute her thoughts and opinions. 

Those contributions made such an impression on Coach Popovich that she was hired to be an assistant on his staff with the Spurs on Aug. 5, 2014 becoming just the second female coach in NBA history after current Associate Head Coach of the South Carolina Lady Gamecocks Lisa Boyer worked as a volunteer assistant with the Cleveland Cavaliers and John Lucas in the 2001-02 season.

“I very much look forward to the addition of Becky Hammon to our staff. Having observed her working with out team this past season, I’m confident her basketball IQ, work ethic, and interpersonal skills will be a great benefit to the Spurs,” Coach Popovich stated in a media statement released at the time of Hammon’s hiring seven seasons back.

That growth and basketball IQ was on full display in three of the five previous off seasons as the Spurs head coach of their Summer League teams (2015, 2016, and 2019), where she helped to guide the Spurs to the 2015 Summer League title in Las Vegas, NV, after the organization on July 3, 2015 announced shoe would be the coach of their summer league team. Hammon became the first ever female head coach in the NBA’s Summer League, she became and the first female NBA head coach to win a Summer League title.

One year later at the 2016 NBA All-Star Game in Toronto, Ontario on Valentine’s Day, Hammon became the first woman to be a part of an All-Star coaching staff.

Hammon said once Coach Popovich was ejected and gave her the keys to navigate the team the remainder of the game on Wednesday night that it was all about getting the players in the “right spots” and getting them “motivated.”

The historic moment while exceptional in of itself, the Spurs still lost the game by 14 points, which was something that Hammon would have “loved” to have happened.

Even in defeat, the Spurs players praised Hammon for how she coached the remainder of the game and her contributions in her now as mentioned seventh season as a Spurs assistant.

“Her making history, that’s expected of someone who is just part of greatness,” Spurs’ guard Lonnie Walker IV, who had 11 points on Wednesday night against the Lakers said.

Spurs veteran swingman Rudy Gay said in his postgame virtual presser that seeing Hammon coach the team was something that was natural.  

“The future’s bright for her and I hope she sticks to it, and don’t give up,” Spurs guard Dejounte Murray, who scored a career-high of 29 points on 12 for 19 from the field with seven assists and seven boards said after the loss against the Lakers.

Veteran reserve guard Patty Mills, who scored 12 points against the Lakers said that Hammon has had a big impact on the Spurs since her arrival in 2014 and has gotten “bigger and bigger” the more she has dived into her assistant coaching role.

Hammon, a four-time All-WNBA selection and a member of the WNBA’s Top 15 Players of All-Time (2011) and Top20@20 (2016) lists has earned respect not just from the Spurs players but from a number of players and head coaches around “The Association.”

“She really knows her stuff. And obviously, she’s here for a reason,” Lakers head coach Frank Vogel said in her postgame presser about Hammon. “She equipped. She’s intelligent. The guys have great respect for her, and I think she’s going to be a head coach in this league someday.”

James echoed those same sentiments saying of Hammon in his postgame presser that she has been “great” ever since she was hired by the Spurs. He added that it is a “beautiful” thing to here her “barking” out offensive and defensive sets, and how “passionate” she is about the game of basketball.

“Congrats to her, and congrats to our league,” James added.

The praise and respect that Hammon has earned in her time as a Spurs assistant has come from flat out hard work and dedication. The kind of hard work and dedication she has displayed that made her into an all-time WNBA great even though as mentioned she did not get drafted in 1999.

Hammon signed with the Liberty on May 12, 1999 and went from backing up one of the greats in Liberty history and WNBA history in Teresa Weatherspoon, who is now assistant coach on head coach Stan Van Gundy’s staff of the New Orleans Pelicans to being a team captain in five years later.

On Apr. 4, 2007 Hammon was traded to the then San Antonio Stars, now the Las Vegas Aces where she would play the final seven seasons of her career. While with the Stars, Hammon earned the nickname “Big Shot Becky” from former Spur and seven-time NBA champion with the Houston Rockets (2), Lakers (3), and Spurs (2) Robert “Big Shot Bob” Horry, who like him made clutch shots at important moments in the regular-season and postseason.

Hammon earned respect from how she performed on the hardwood and is earning that respect from her work with the Spurs as an assistant coach.

Back in 2017, the Milwaukee Bucks interviewed her to be their new general manager. While Hammon was not considered a finalist for the position, the fact that team president Peter Feigin and the ownership group of Wes Edens, Marc Lasry, Jamie Dinan, and Mike Fascitelli had the boldness to even interview Hammon for the position said a lot about what he thought of her basketball acumen to consider her for a major position in his organization. The Bucks hired former Director of Basketball Operations Jon Horst as their new GM.

Hammon being hired as an assistant coach by the Spurs led to a number of teams looking beyond gender to who head coaches wanted as part of their staffs as presently there are 10 female assistant coaches currently in “The Association.”

Jenny Boucek, who has been on head coach Rick Carlisle staff of the Dallas Mavericks since 2018 and was the player development coach for the Sacramento Kings, where she became the third woman assistant coach in NBA history.

Former Northern Iowa Lady Panther (2011-15) Brittni Donaldson, who went from a data analyst for STATS, LLC and did the same job for the Toronto Raptors when she was hired by team president Masai Ujiri, was promoted to be the 10^th active female assistant coach in the NBA in 2019. On Dec. 4, 2020, she joined the Raptors G League squad, Raptors 905 as a member of head coach Patrick Mutombo’s coaching staff.

After eight seasons as the head coach of the University of California, Berkeley Lady Golden Bears basketball team, Lindsay Gottlieb became the first NCAA Women’s head coach to be hired by an NBA team as an assistant coach, joining then head coach John Beilein’s coaching staff, that is now led by head coach J.B. Bickerstaff since the middle of Feb. 2020.

After one season as a scout/player development coach for the Philadelphia 76ers in 2018-19, former WNBA player Lindsay Harding, who played for the WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx, Washington Mystics, Atlanta Dream, Los Angeles Sparks, Liberty, and Phoenix Mercury is a player development coach on the staff of Luke Walton’s Sacramento Kings.  

After coaching for four seasons (2008-12) overseas in Japan, Natalie Nakase, who went from being an intern with the Los Angeles Clippers in 2012 working under their video coordinator to an assistant for their G League affiliate the Agua Caliente Clippers under the son of former NBA head coach Bob Hill in Casey Hill in 2017-18 is the current player development coach for the team. During the Clippers 2014 Summer League, Nakase became the first woman to sit on the bench as an assistant.

On Sept. 11, 2020, the Memphis Grizzlies announced they were hiring former women’s basketball head coach of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and former assistant coach for the Wellesley College Lady Blue Sonia Raman to head coach Taylor Jenkins’ staff.

In a career that has seen win a NCAA title while with the University of Maryland Lady Terrapins and two WNBA titles with the Sparks (2016) and Mystics (2019), Kristi Tolliver since 2018 has in the offseason is an assistant coach on the staff of head coach Scott Brooks and the Washington Wizards.

Other women who have been assistant coaches in the NBA include Hall of Famer and three-time Olympic Gold medalist Nancy Lieberman, who is currently a studio analyst for the Oklahoma City Thunder’s pregame and postgame show for FOX Sports Oklahoma “Thunder Live.”

Before becoming the head coach of the Duke University Lady Blue Devils, 2005 WNBA champion with the WNBA’s Sacramento Monarchs and WNBA All-Star (2007) Kara Lawson spent one season as an assistant coach on head coach Brad Steven’s staff with the Boston Celtics. Prior to that, Lawson spent three seasons as the primary game color analyst for the Washington Wizards alongside longtime play-by-play commentator Steve Buckhantz, joining current color analyst for the Brooklyn Nets Sarah Kustok as the first primary television analyst for an NBA team. Lawson’s broadcasting career began while she was still playing in the WNBA serving as a studio analyst for the Kings and worked her way up the television ranks calling a variety of NBA and WNBA games for ESPN.

Lawson made history on Jan. 12, 2007 becoming the first woman to work a nationally televised NBA game when the then New Orleans Hornets to on the Wizards.

Long before Hammon and Boyer, perhaps the greatest example of a woman rising in the NBA ranks was Karen Stack Umlauf, the sister of former Bulls Assistant GM and GM of the Minnesota Timberwolves Jim Stack.

Following her career playing overseas after a standout career on the hardwood for the Northwestern Lady Wildcats, Stack Umlauf joined the Chicago Bulls in 1985, where she went from selling game tickets, to becoming Director of Basketball Operations for two decades, to Senior Director of Basketball Administration, to becoming the Bulls’ first female assistant coach first in Summer League in 2017, combing that role with being their Director of Team Operations.  

On Wednesday night, head coach of the five-time NBA champion San Antonio Spurs Gregg Popovich after being ejected in the team’s loss versus the Lakers, simply pointed to assistant coach Becky Hammon to lead the team.

That point was a signal of the trust he had in her to lead his team in his absence, that not only made history but was a culmination of all her hard work and dedication she put into doing one of the hardest things in the history of sports, be a woman coach in a league of men.

Hammon had all the right stuff from the moment she was hired by the Spurs and her success has led to a plethora of other women getting that same chance she got seven years ago.

That moment however is also thanks to what Karen Stack Umlauf and Lisa Boyer did before and how Hammon took her opportunity and ran with it.

The question now is Becky Hammon the eventual successor as the Spurs next head coach when Gregg Popovich decides to retire?

Besides having the respect of the Spurs current players and coaching staff as well as a plethora of players and coaches in the NBA, Hammon has shown that it is possible.

She has shown she can handle the position of being a head coach of the Spurs as demonstrated by what took place on Wednesday night. It remains to be seen though whether the Spurs front office brain trust of R.C. Buford and Peter Holt will make that move. But if they do it will not be a shock and she will have players who respect and trust her if that happens.

“One day it may happen. It may not happen, who knows? But you know, she’s definitely in the right road, and I think everybody appreciates her,” Murray said.

Information courtesy of 12/31/2020 1 a.m. ESPN’s “Sportscenter” from Los Angeles, CA with Neil Everett, and Stan Verrett; 12/31/2020 2 p.m. ESPN’s “NBA: The Jump,” with Jorge Sedano, Kendrick Perkins, and Nick Friedell; 12/31/2020 6 p.m. WABC 7 “Eyewitness News at 6” with Bill Ritter, Liz Cho, weather anchor Jeff Smith, and sports anchor Sam Ryan; https://www.nba.com/gamelal-vs-sas-0022000060/box-score; https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_NBA_All-Star_Game; https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Horst; https://en.m.wikpedia.org/wiki/Colorado_Sports_Hall_of_Fame; https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_female_NBA_coaches; and https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Becky_Hammon.