Becky Hammon made history on Wednesday, becoming the first woman to act as head coach during a NBA regular season game.
The San Antonio assistant coach took the place of head coach Gregg Popovich after being sent off in the first half of Spurs’ 121-107 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.
“Obviously, it’s a big deal, it’s a substantial moment,” Hammon said after the game. “I was part of this organization. I was traded here in 2007, so I was in San Antonio and I’ve been part of the Spurs and Sports organization with the Stars and everything for 13 years. So I have a lot of invested a lot of time and they have invested a lot of time in me to build myself and make me better ”.
Popovich was booked for kicking the ball away after the whistle with 3:56 left in the second quarter.
Hammon is in his seventh season on Spurs’ coaching team and has been a six-time WNBA All-Star with the New York Liberty and San Antonio Silver Stars.
When Popovich was expelled from a game against the Portland Trail Blazers in November last year, and Hammon and the rest of the Spurs staff made up for it in his absence. After the game, however, Popovich said that assistant Tim Duncan finally assumed the responsibilities of head coach to end the game.
Duncan resigned as coach with Spurs during the off-season.
Hammon, 43, was nominated to enter the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in the 2021 class. Popovich was asked about Hammon’s credentials before the game.
“Obviously, I think her skills hired her. It all started when I saw her play,” Popovich said. “She was a leader, everyone on the team reacted to her, she was very confident, very competitive and she led the whole show. And when I got to know her and she was in our meetings with the coaches before she was hired, while she was injured. after the season, I learned about her skill for the game, about the innate understanding of what she wins, what she loses, what she needs to be there to make a program, so she has all the tools to be a heck of a coach in our league. . “