Coach @BeckyHammon leads the @Spurs to @NBASummerLeague title!
https://t.co/JuU7v81M8I
— NBA (@NBA) July 21, 2015Last summer, Becky Hammon became the first full-time female assistant coach in NBA history. This summer, she led the San Antonio Spurs to the 2015 Las Vegas Summer League championship as the first female head coach in NBA summer league.
Hammon: "I actually didn't think it was going to be as big a deal as it turned out being. To me, it was just a great opportunity, a great responsibility, and just a great gesture of trust with Pop [Gregg Popovich] that he would put me in charge of helping develop our guys, helping get our system in place, and just giving me that experience."
NBA commissioner Adam Silver praised the team and Hammon for the historic win: "I first met her in this league when she was playing for the Liberty early on in the league. Her composure was fantastic and also it says a lot about those Spurs, Coach Pop, R.C. Buford, Peter Holt. People need to be given opportunities. I obviously [was given] an opportunity by David Stern in the NBA. To see her get that opportunity, I have no doubt, as I said earlier, that we're going to have a female coach [not just Hammon] in the NBA one day. There should be no barriers."
Congrats to Coach @BeckyHammon and the Spurs! NBA Summer League Champs!!! Just the beginning.... ✊🏾
— Chiney Ogwumike (@Chiney321) July 21, 2015Popovich has said time and again that she was hired because of her coaching acumen and not because the team was looking to help a woman break the glass ceiling: "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. That's why we made her a full-time coach and gave her the opportunity to coach at summer league. I don't even look at it as, well, she's the first female this-and-that and the other. She's a coach, and she's good at it. I think some people thought this was some kind of gimmick or we were just trying to be cool. I'm glad she's there. I respect her opinion."
Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel said, "I believe women are, in many ways, more qualified to be NBA coaches than men."
SB Nation says that "Becky Hammon should be on every list of potential NBA head coaches."
Dime Magazine said, "Front office execs around the league should take a note from Marks and pencil in Hammon high up on their call list the next time there’s a vacancy."
Former NBA assistant GM, Bobby Marks:
I know this is a bold statement. If I was running a team and had a head coaching opening. The first call would be to Becky Hammon.
— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) July 21, 2015Trust me I am not hiring her off wining a summer league championship. Tutored by the best coach in the NBA. Has commanded respect by others.
— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) July 21, 2015.@HillaryClinton Thank you so much, the support is humbling. #womensupportwomen#thatjusthappened#nba#girlpower#wnba#nbasummerleague
— Becky Hammon (@BeckyHammon) July 21, 2015Source 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9