That was no gimmick by NBA Spurs
Becky Hammon’s priority Wednesday was finding ways for the San Antonio Spurs to beat the Lakers. Making history wasn’t part of the game plan she had helped design as the top assistant to longtime coach Gregg Popovich.
“I did not walk into the arena thinking I would be coaching tonight,” Hammon said, “but that’s the way things go, and you roll with it.”
The evening took an unexpected turn when Popovich was ejected with three minutes and 56 seconds left in the second quarter. He never specified that she’d replace him if the occasion arose. He didn’t actually tell her Wednesday, either. Typically brusque, he simply pointed at her and barked, “You got ’em.”
And so it was that Hammon, a gym rat who paid her dues as a player in college, during a stellar WNBA career and at the international level and is a valued assistant coach with the Spurs, became the first woman to coach an NBA team in a regular-season game.
This was not a gimmick. She is not a gimmick. Hammon joined the Spurs’ staff in 2014, coached their Summer League team to a championship in 2015 and coached a preseason game in 2017. As her experience and confidence grew and she took on bigger tasks that include game planning, she became a front-ofthe-bench assistant in 2018. She’s legit.
Game recognized game. “She’s been putting in the work, and any time you put in the work you get rewarded with opportunities,” LeBron James said after the Lakers’ 121-107 victory over the Spurs at AT&T Center. “Tonight was a case where she got to step in and show her work, show her talents and her love for the game and obviously, what she did as a player, first of all, we all know that. So her mind was able to transfer to our league and she’s been great ever since she got in.
“It’s a beautiful thing just to hear her barking out calls, barking out sets and she’s very passionate about the game, so congrats to her and congrats to the league.”
Pau Gasol, who played two-plus seasons for the Spurs, tweeted congratulations to her accompanied by two pairs of upraised hands. Stephen Curry’s tweet was to the point. “Big time @Becky Hammon,” he said, adding an upraised hands emoji.
To the Spurs, Hammon wasn’t a groundbreaking female coach Wednesday. She was the coach who works tirelessly with them to make them better players, who pushes them to realize the importance of detail on the court but also cares enough to text them to ask about their kids.
“Having her around, you don’t think twice about it. She fits right in,” DeMar DeRozan said. “She’s like one of us, honestly. It’s great to have that. Whenever she speaks, we listen. We’re all ears. It’s been great just having her.”
Players sense her love for the game and for learning. They also respect her ability to relate to them while challenging them. “I’ve been watching her talk to every single player, whether he was a veteran dude or a young dude, just using her voice and her knowledge of the game, and I love Becky to death,” point guard Dejounte Murray said.
Hammon hadn’t checked her phone before she spoke to reporters via a webinar, but she didn’t need to count the messages to realize the magnitude of the occasion. “Obviously, it’s a big deal. It’s a substantial moment,” she said. At the time, though, she was too consumed by the game to think of anything else.
“I say this a lot, but I try not to think about the huge picture and the huge aspect of it because it can get overwhelming. It’s my job to go in there and be focused for those guys and make sure that I’m helping them do the things that will help us win,” she said.
For the Spurs, hearing Hammon’s voice in the huddle
turned out to be a lot like hearing Popovich’s voice. “There’s not much difference in the ferocity between the both of them. She came out guns blazing a couple times in those timeouts,” guard Patty Mills said. “Everyone’s receptive to that, obviously being used to it with Pop but with her as well. She’s obviously clear in what she’s saying, but you can definitely feel, me watching her as a player, you definitely feel that same sort of intensity as a coach. I think it’s only going to get better and bigger for her in those situations, for sure.”
Popovich, who was charged with the loss, is expected to be back in command when the Spurs face the Lakers again today in San Antonio. Someday it won’t be news when an experienced, qualified woman becomes the coach or manager of a men’s team in a major professional sport. Hammon made that day seem not so far away by capably answering the summons when history unexpectedly called.