Hammon to coach Aces
Becky Hammon was ready to lead her own team. So she went back to where her professional career began – the WNBA.
Hammon, an assistant with the San Antonio Spurs, will take over as the Las Vegas Aces’ head coach after the NBA season concludes.
“Being the head coach of the Las Vegas Aces is a step forward and a step in the right direction for myself and for women’s basketball,” Hammon said. “I cannot emphasize enough the importance of this opportunity that I have. There’s something to being a head coach.”
The 44-year-old Hammon has spent eight seasons as a Spurs assistant and has interviewed for several NBA head coaching jobs, including with the Milwaukee Bucks in 2018.
“I sat in head coaching interviews (in the NBA) and people said two things: ‘You’ve only been in San Antonio and you’ve never been a head coach,’ ” she said. “NBA jobs are hard to get. In some ways, I feel like the NBA maybe is close. In other ways, I feel like they’re a long ways off from hiring (a woman head coach). I don’t know when it could happen.”
Hammon will replace Bill Laimbeer, who has been with the team since it moved to Las Vegas in 2017 and led the Aces on deep playoff runs the past three seasons, including a WNBA Finals appearance in 2020.
The Aces split the team’s general manager duties with Laimbeer, Hammon and a few others handling it for now, according to a Las Vegas spokesman.
NFL
Baker Mayfield’s broken fourth season with the Cleveland Browns has mercifully ended with one game left.
Mayfield is sitting out the season finale against Cincinnati so he can undergo surgery on his left shoulder, an injury that affected his performance, contributed to the Browns falling way short of expectations and may have altered the path of his NFL career.
Mayfield, who played with a torn labrum suffered in Week 2 and a fracture in his non-throwing shoulder for most of the season, was sacked nine times in Monday night’s 26-14 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
WFT’s new name coming: Washington’s NFL team announced it will unveil its new name Feb. 2 and that it will not be the Wolves or RedWolves.
Commanders, Admirals, Armada, Brigade, Sentinels, Defenders, Red Hogs, Presidents and the status quo “Washington Football Team” were among the other finalists.
HOCKEY
University of Wisconsin officials announced Tuesday that the Badgers’ Big Ten men’s hockey games set for Friday and Saturday against visiting Ohio State have been postponed because of COVID-19 within the UW program.
UW is scheduled to host Michigan State on Jan. 14-15.
Admirals game rescheduled: The Milwaukee Admirals’ home game originally scheduled for Dec. 30 against the Rockford IceHogs has been moved to 7 p.m. April 29 at UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena.
Fans who had tickets to the Dec. 30 game can use those tickets for the April 29 game or exchange them for any home game in January.
Surgery for Devils’ Hamilton: New Jersey Devils defenseman Dougie Hamilton is scheduled to have surgery Wednesday on his broken jaw after taking a puck to the face early in the team’s game at Washington on Sunday.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Former Heisman Trophy winner Chris Weinke was named Georgia Tech’s quarterbacks coach.
Weinke, who led Florida State to the 1999 national championship and won the Heisman in 2000, most recently served as Tennessee’s quarterbacks coach in the 2019 and 2020 seasons.
SKIING
Slovakia’s Petra Vlhova won a women’s World Cup slalom in tough conditions Tuesday in Zagreb, Croatia, for her fourth win in five races this season.
Mikaela Shiffrin finished five-tenths of a second behind in second place upon her return to competition following a positive COVID-19 test and missing two races last week.
TENNIS
Top-ranked Novak Djokovic will get a chance to defend his Australian Open title after receiving a medical exemption to travel to Melbourne, ending months of uncertainty about his participation because of the strict COVID-19 vaccination requirements in place for the tournament.
Djokovic, who is seeking a record 21st Grand Slam singles title, has continually refused to reveal if he is vaccinated against COVID-19.