Becky Hammon’s WNBA coaching decision proving to be right call
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The Las Vegas Aces first-year head coach Becky Hammon won the WNBA’s Coach of the Year, the league announced Friday. She helped the Aces secure the first seed in the Western Conference with a 26-10 record. Previously, Hammon served as an assistant coach for the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs from 2014 until the end of the Spurs’ season in 2022. Her journey from the NBA to the WNBA was widely questioned. However, her Coach of the Year award proves she made the right decision.
During the NBA’s 2021-22 offseason, there were a handful of open head coaching opportunities. Hammon and Chauncey Billups were the two finalists for the Portland Trail Blazers head coach position. It was the first time a woman had made it to the final stages of an NBA coaching search. But it was Billups who would ultimately become the Blazers head coach. When the dust settled, all the vacant head-coaching jobs went to men. It seemed like the NBA had just used Hammon and other women rumoured to be possible head-coaching candidates as a facade for progressiveness.
Unlike the Blazers, the Aces offered the former WNBA player a five-year deal that made her the highest-paid WNBA head coach. Hammon is making upwards of $1 million as the Aces head coach, and it’s more than her salary as the Spurs assistant coach, where she made $750,000. While Hammon’s contract is historic, it’s no secret that she would make more as a head coach in the NBA. While financial deals aren’t usually disclosed for NBA head coaches, the minimum they can make is $2 million.
Hammon’s announcement as the Aces’ head coach was surprising for many. She was widely believed to take over as the Spurs’ head coach once Gregg Popovich retired, and it was assumed she would stay in the organization until he did. When she left, some believed she was doing her career a disservice by becoming a WNBA head coach. However, Hammon’s decision to coach in the WNBA is not a step down from her previous position and is a reminder that the WNBA is not second-class to the NBA. A head-coaching job is the same regardless of the league.
Hammon fired back at those who believe she made the wrong call by coaching in the WNBA. In an interview with the Associated Press, she said, “I think it’s an ignorant statement. To think I’ve outgrown the WNBA in a coaching capacity is ridiculous. I’d rather be a coach in the WNBA and have my own organization and be running a team.”
As this is Hammon’s first head-coaching opportunity, she is gaining crucial experience from the Aces. During the start of the season, the team went 9-1 in their first ten games of action. By the end of the regular season, the team would finish first in offensive rating and points averaged per game. Plus, the Aces broke a team record with the number of made three-pointers. Clearly, Hammon is impacting the Aces’ performance in all the best ways.
If Hammon’s decision needs more backing besides her Coach of the Year status, just look at the league’s playoff numbers. Per ESPN, the first round of the 2022 WNBA Playoffs averaged 392,000 viewers per game, making it the most-watched first round in 15 years. With the continued rise of the WNBA, Hammon may be considered a trailblazer for believing in the league’s potential, but most importantly, her own.
The Aces will look to even up their second-round series against the Seattle Storm on Wednesday at 10 p.m.