Becky Hammon at the annual Redbook Magazine Strength & Spirit Awards (Photo : Reuters/Lucas Jackson)
Former WNBA Star Becky Hammon has recently returned to Madison Square Garden to play against the home team, New York Knicks.
But instead of calling and executing game plays, shooting three-pointers and throwing no-look passes on the floor, the first full-time female assistant coach in NBA history--or in any of the four major sports league, for the matter--spent the rest of the game going over the stats, eyeing players' executions and giving instructions from the bench, AP reported.
When asked about being the first full-time female assistant coach in NBA history, Hammon told The Post before the Knicks delivers a stunning upset against the defending champs San Antonio Spurs 104-100 in overtime: "I think you'll see more of it in the future ... I know there's plenty of great basketball minds out there that are women. It's going to be fun to see how this moves things along for women."
Hammon had a tough road that led to history with the Spurs. After college basketball, she went undrafted in the NBA because teams thought her height won't measure up with the standards. But she never gave up and finally joined the New York Liberty and later, the San Antonio Star where she played the last eight years of her career. Soon after, Spurs Coach Popovich made the six-time WNBA All Star an offer she could not refuse.
Hammon also had a share of controversy when her strong will and determination nudged her to get a Russian citizenship to play for the Russian National team in the Olympics, a move she pulled after Team U.S.A. did not give her the spot she, as well as many others, thought she fully deserved.
