The San Antonio Spurs are always up to something new and different, doing big things all the time and today is no different. The Spurs named Six-Time WNBA All-Star Becky Hammon an assistant coach on Gregg Popovich’s staff, the second female assistant in NBA history. Hammon is the first full-time paid female assistant in the NBA. Hammon is currently playing for the WNBA’s San Antonio Stars but has announced she will retire from playing at the end of the season. Lisa Boyer, who is currently the associate head women’s basketball coach for the South Carolina Gamecocks, was a member of John Lucas’ staff with the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2001-02 season. The exact terms of Hammon’s contract have not yet been announced.
ESPN.com received a statement from current Head Coach, Gregg Popovich.
“I very much look forward to the addition of Becky Hammon to our staff,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said in a statement Tuesday. “Having observed her working with our team this past season, I’m confident her basketball IQ, work ethic and interpersonal skills will be a great benefit to the Spurs.”
While Hammon has no prior major coaching experience, she does have a very decorated WNBA career as well as being a member of Russia’s women’s basketball team in the Olympics. She was named one of the WNBA’s top 15 players of all-time in 2011. Hammon ranks seventh in WNBA history in points with 5,809, sixth in games with 445 and fourth in assists with 1,687. Hammon has spent the last eight seasons with the San Antonio Stars after starting her career with the New York Liberty after being undrafted. She is the Stars all-time leader in assists with 1,112 and three-point field goals made 493. She ranks second in franchise history in points with 3,442 and games with 218 and Hammon was also the top vote getter for the Stars All-Decade Team.
