Earlier this week, Becky Hammon made NBA history as the first woman to act as head coach in an NBA game, taking over after Gregg Popovich was ejected against the Los Angeles Lakers.
Outspoken and thoughtful as always, Pop gave a great answer to reporters after being asked about his decision to let Hammon take over. From his side of things, he says it was an easy choice and “business as usual,” knowing Hammon and her qualifications. However, he also acknowledged the broader impact of his decision because of the barriers that women face in obtaining positions such as NBA coaching jobs, regardless of their qualifications.
Hammon, a former WNBA legend, has been an assistant coach with the Spurs since 2014, and she has interviewed for multiple head coaching jobs that have been open over the past few seasons. As Popovich says, her qualifications are known around the league, and especially because she was the assistant responsible for scouting the matchup, it was natural for her to take over against the Lakers.
With that said, it was significant to see Hammon take over because that’s just something we haven’t seen very often. Like Pop says, the fact that she’s a woman should be irrelevant, but it's not yet in our world. Hopefully, we can get to the point where is.
