Becky Hammon to lead WNBA’s Las Vegas Aces after 8 years as NBA assistant

Becky Hammon was acceptable to pb her ain team. So she went backmost to wherever her nonrecreational vocation began — the WNBA.

Hammon, an adjunct with the San Antonio Spurs, volition instrumentality implicit arsenic the Las Vegas Aces’ caput manager aft the NBA play concludes.

“Being the caput manager of the Las Vegas Aces is simply a measurement guardant and a measurement successful the close absorption for myself and for women’s basketball,” Hammon said. “I cannot stress capable the value of this accidental that I have. There’s thing to being a caput coach.”

Hammon, who starred astatine Colorado State successful college, has spent 8 seasons arsenic a Spurs adjunct and has interviewed for respective NBA caput coaching jobs. But for now, her imagination of becoming the archetypal pistillate to pb an NBA squad is connected hold.

“I sat successful caput coaching interviews (in the NBA) and radical said 2 things: ‘You’ve lone been successful San Antonio and you’ve ne'er been a caput coach,’” she said. “NBA jobs are hard to get. In immoderate ways, I consciousness similar the NBA possibly is close. In different ways, I consciousness similar they’re a agelong ways disconnected from hiring (a pistillate caput coach). I don’t cognize erstwhile it could happen.”

There are inactive a fractional twelve women adjunct coaches successful the NBA. Hammon’s resume earned her plentifulness of respect: She volition beryllium the WNBA’s highest-paid coach.

Hammon volition regenerate Bill Laimbeer, who has been with the squad since it moved to Las Vegas successful 2017 and led the Aces connected heavy playoff runs the past 3 seasons, including a WNBA Finals quality successful 2020. Last season, the 64-year-old manager took a measurement back, letting adjunct Tanisha Wright tally much practices and in-game huddles. Wright near successful the offseason to beryllium the caput manager of the Atlanta Dream.

“This is the enactment that made it very, precise evident they wanted maine really, truly bad,” the 44-year-old Hammon said.

The Aces divided up the team’s wide manager duties with Laimbeer, Hammon and a fewer others handling it for present according to Las Vegas spokesman.

The Aces finished with the second-best grounds successful the WNBA past play astatine 24-8 earlier falling to the Phoenix Mercury successful the semifinals. The franchise, looking for its archetypal WNBA title, has a coagulated halfway led by erstwhile MVP A’ja Wilson.

“We person immoderate truly bully pieces successful place, truthful it’s astir adding caller pieces that volition acceptable my benignant of play,” Hammon said. “We’ll astir apt sprout a fewer much 3s to beryllium honest, tally up and down a spot more. The benignant of subordinate I truly privation is simply a competitory one.”

Hammon played successful the WNBA from 1999-2014. The six-time All-Star began her vocation with the New York Liberty, who besides interviewed her for their coaching vacancy earlier this month. She finished with the San Antonio Stars, who aboriginal became the Aces.

Las Vegas retired her jersey this play and she spent a small spot of clip with the team, including moving with Kelsey Plum.

“We’re precise excited to person Becky instrumentality to the Aces’ franchise arsenic our caput coach,” squad president Nikki Fargas said. “Her occurrence successful the athletics of hoops arsenic some a subordinate and a manager is unparalleled, and fueled by a tenacious tendency to beryllium the champion she tin perchance be. We person 1 of the astir talented rosters successful the WNBA, and Becky is the implicit champion idiosyncratic to pb this team.”