Becky Hammon made history on Wednesday, becoming the first woman to act as coach during an NBA regular season game.
San Antonio assistant coach replaced coach Gregg Popovich after being sent off in the first half of the Spurs ’121-107 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.
“Obviously it’s a big problem, it’s a substantial moment,” Hammon said after the match. “I was part of that organization. I moved here in 2007, so I was in San Antonio and I was part of the sports organization and Spurs with the stars and all for 13 years. So I have a lot of time invested. and they have a lot of time invested in me to build and improve myself. “
Popovich received a technical foul and left the game with 3:56 left in the second quarter to argue with the referee for a non-call with his team behind the Lakers by 52-41.
Hammon reaches his seventh season in the Spurs coaching staff and was a six-time All-Star in the WNBA with the New York Liberty and San Antonio Silver Stars.
When Popovich was kicked out of a game against the Portland Trail Blazers last November, both Hammon and the rest of the Spurs staff filled him during his absence. After the match, however, Popovich said that assistant Tim Duncan finally assumed the responsibilities of coach to end the match.
Duncan stopped being a full-time coach with the Spurs during the offseason.
Hammon, 43, was named a candidate to enter the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in the 202 class. Popovich was asked about Hammon’s credentials before Wednesday’s game.
“Obviously, I think her skills have hired her. It all started when I saw her play,” Popovich said. “She was a leader, all the team members reacted to her, she was very confident, very competitive and she ran the whole program. And when I met her and she was at our coaches’ meetings before they hired her. , injured after the season, we learn about his ability to play, his innate understanding of what he wins, what he loses, what it takes to make a program, so he has all the tools he needs to be coach of our league “.