Becky Hammon’s career in the WNBA ended last summer after she suffered a knee injury. Since then, she has been very open about her desire to stay in the game and coach a team.
After hearing that Hammon would want to coach, the Spurs’ coach Gregg Popovich invited Hammon to attend his practices. He says that she is not only a good player, but a smart player too.
”She wants to coach after she’s done,” Popovich said. ”Because she’s not just a good player but a smart player, a great person in our community, just somebody that we all respect so much, we gave her the opportunity to sit with us during the year. She came to our coaches’ meetings, argued with us. She did everything. She’s been wonderful.”
Hammon has been attending home games and has sat in on film sessions. She is, more-or-less, shadowing Popovich to get a feel for the coaching side of the game. ”There’s a standard that he puts on them every day,” Hammon explained. ”You’re expected to meet that standard and play to that standard. It doesn’t matter if you’re up 20 or it’s a one-point game. It’s kind of a beautiful thing to watch.”
Hammon has explained that she would be willing to coach women or men and Popovich said she should be allowed to. ”I don’t see why not. There shouldn’t be any limitations,” Popovich said. ”It’s about talent and the ability to do things. It’s not about what your sex is or your race or anything else.”
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