Spurs hire female assistant coach

The San Antonio Spurs made history on Tuesday, hiring six-time WNBA all-star Becky Hammon as an assistant coach, Washing Post reports. Hammon, who is currently finishing up her 16th year as a player in the women’s league, will become the first female assistant coach in the NBA when she begins the job.

“I very much look forward to the addition of Becky Hammon to our staff,” Spurs Head Coach Gregg Popovich said in an NBA press release. “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.”

Until now, the closest an NBA team has come to hiring a female to join the regular season as a full-time assistant coach was Natalie Nakase, an assistant video coordinator for the Los Angeles Clippers, who was hired as to help with the NBA’s summer league this season, NPR reports.

And previously, Lisa Boyer, an assistant coach with the WNBA’s Cleveland Rockers at the time, became a volunteer assistant coach with the Cavaliers in 2001-02, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Boyer did not travel with the team, however. Hammon, in contrast, will be on the regular season, full-time coaching staff of the Spurs.

The news should not come as a surprise, however. In May, Popovich told reporters that he was very open to hiring a female for a coaching position, as long as she was talented.

Hammon brings loads of firsthand experience to the Spurs, including eight years with the San Antonio Stars; she’s the team’s all-time leader in assists (1,112) and three-point field goals (493). She also currently ranks second in franchise history in points (3,442) and games (218).

The terms of Hammon’s contract with the Spurs were not disclosed, per club policy.

Hammon’s hiring adds to a line of recent progressive moves made by the NBA. Late last month, Michele Roberts, a Washington-based attorney, became the first woman to be named executive director of the NBA players’ union. And last year, the NBA didn’t flinch when Jason Collins came out as gay. He currently plays centre for the Brooklyn Nets.