Rankings - All about the NBA
July 2015: Women take command in the NBA
With 3:56 left until half-time, the referees sent
Gregg Popovich off
for over-protesting a foul that had not been called.
As she remembers it, the veteran coach turned to the bench, pointed at her and only said:
"You, it's your turn."
And so, on that path that is still written in short steps,
Becky Hammon
became the first woman in history to lead a team in an official NBA game.
Hammon already managed the San Antonio Spurs when they won the 2015 Summer League, but this was his first time in a regular season game.
And it could be much earlier if a year ago, after another expulsion, Popovich had pointed her out to her, who has been part of his coaching staff since 2014, and not to
Tim Duncan
, who was in his first and only season that would spend in the dock.
The San Antonio Spurs threatened to lift the game, but without
LaMarcus Aldridge they
did not have enough to complete the comeback against the Los Angeles Lakers (107-121).
Just before the game, Popovich had once again praised Hammon's work.
"She has all the tools necessary to be a great coach in this league."
And he's been convinced for a long time.
The story goes that everything was forged when they shared a seat on the return flight from the 2012 London Olympics. She had just won bronze with her host country, Russia;
and he, who was even then a favorite to fill in for
Mike Krzyzewski's
departure
, had been following the tournament.
The story also tells that in that conversation they did not talk about basketball.
Just the occasional exchange.
- "If you were my assistant and I asked you something, would you tell me the truth?"
- "And why would you ask me if not?"
- "Good, because I don't like having a flock of people who agree with me."
It wouldn't be a year before I had a chance to prove it.
Becky Hammon suffered a serious injury in 2013 that ended her career, and while she was recovering, Popovich offered her a position as a listener on his coaching staff.
"I'm like a fly on the wall, absorbing how things work," he said.
Since then, with an official assistant position in 2014, Hammon has been Popovich's assistant.
In this time, firm offers have come out to train in universities, but he has rejected them because his objective at the moment is only one, to train in the NBA.
And the first step, still small, he took this Wednesday.
"Becky has played this, and any player who knows the history of women's basketball knows what she has meant to the sport. She is one of us. When she speaks, we are all ears," said
DeMar DeRozan
.
And who is Becky Hammon?
Well, one of the best players in the first 15 years of WNBA history and a base in Europe who divided her career between Spain and Russia, a country she began to represent when in 2008 she learned that she had no place in the national team. U.S.
He won bronze in Beijing 2008 and silver in the 2009 Eurobasket after machine-gunning the Spanish team in the semifinals.
Here she passed through the ranks of Rivas Ecópolis and Ros Casares, a team with which she was proclaimed champion of the Women's League along with
Amaya Valdemoro, Laia Palau, Elisa Aguilar
... Or
Anna Montañana
, who until two months ago was tracing a path parallel as an assistant at Urbas Fuenlabrada.
Hammon played down his first game with the Spurs.
Maybe because it was just that, a game, or because there is still a lot to do.
"I try not to look further because it can be overwhelming. My job was to focus on this match and do everything possible to win."
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