Becky Hammon was the first female coach in a major American sports league and the first female to lead a team to an NBA Las Vegas Summer League title, and now she’s set to be the first female to coach in an All-Star game, NBA TV announced Friday.
On Wednesday, Hammon’s boss, Gregg Popovich, was named coach of the Western Conference All-Star team, and he’s bringing Hammon with him.
Hammon, 38, played 16 seasons in the WNBA, reaching six All-Star teams. In 2014, the Spurs hired her as an assistant coach, and this past summer she led San Antonio’s summer league team to a title.
Coaching the All-Star is a cool next step for Hammon, who remains young, with plenty of time to move up the NBA coaching ladder.
We’ll see what the long-term holds for Hammon’s coaching career, but Popovich is also the U.S. Olympic coach, so maybe another assistant coaching first lies in Hammon’s near future?