The NBA is already viewed as a league that is way ahead of its peers in terms of diversity and social inclusion, but San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich believes the league can do much better.

Popovich promoted assistant coach Becky Hammon this past summer. He suggests that more women should have positions of power in the NBA.

“I think there just has to be more, more of the same” said Popovich via the Washington Post. “There are more Beckys out there, they just have to be noticed and given the opportunity by people who are wise enough and courageous enough to do it and not just sit in the old paradigm.”

Popovich and the Spurs made history by hiring Hammon as the first full-time female assistant coach in league history. Hammon became the first female to coach in the NBA summer league. She also became the first woman to be part of a coaching staff in the NBA All-Star game.

While no woman has ever become a head coach in the NBA, this has definitely opened the door for it to happen.

In a report released this past June, the NBA received an excellent grade of A+ in terms of its racial hiring practices. However, the league garnered a sub-par grade of B for gender, which resulted in an overall grade of A.

According to the Associated Press' NBA diversity report, gender hiring practices at a team level dropped for the third consecutive year. This is cause for concern.

The percentage of women decreased for team vice presidents and team professional staff. Women who held team vice president positions made up 23.5 percent, a slight decrease from last year's study. The percentage of women in team professional staff positions decreased by 2.9 percentage points from 40.1 in to 37.2 percent.

The NBA bests other leagues in terms of gender hiring, but it acknowledges more must be done. The NBA can take the next step by hiring a woman to a general manager role, something that has never been done in league history.

Gregg Popovich's coaching tree has seen marvelous success over the years. James Borrego was just an assistant last year, and now he's the head coach of the Charlotte Hornets. It's not outlandish to think that Hammon could become an NBA team's head coach one day. She can continue to learn behind one of the greatest to ever do it. Eventually, the opportunity of a lifetime could open up for her. All she has to do is bide her time.

 

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