Las Vegas Raiders and Las Vegas Aces owner Mark Davis has just revealed that Becky Hammon is set to become the first WNBA head coach to receive over $1 million in annual salary, per Sam Gordon of the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
After introducing Dave Ziegler and Josh McDaniels, owner Mark Davis, who also owns the Aces, confirmed that new coach Becky Hammon will be the first WNBA coach to exceed $1 million in annual salary: pic.twitter.com/bT8ZfnuEZ6
— Sam Gordon (@BySamGordon) January 31, 2022
This is an absolute win for women's pro sports. Hammon's contract should have a lasting impact not only in the WNBA but also across all professional sports. The 44-year-old Hammon is one of the most accomplished basketball players ever, and Davis certainly has seen tremendous value in her.
Nancy Armour of USA TODAY also recalled what the Raiders owners told her in 2021 about his belief in women in sports.
I’d missed this. Good for Mark Davis, who told me last year after he bought @LVAces, “I believe women today are going to be the driving force throughout not only sports, but the economy and everything else. I just think it’s time for women. And I’m proud to help, any way I can.”
Before taking over as head coach of the Aces, Hammons was in fact part of the San Antonio Spurs coaching staff. She was even rumored as a potential successor of Gregg Popovich, though, that's obviously no longer the case, as she has moved back to the WNBA when signed with the Aces in December 2021 to be the franchise's head coach.
Hammon's challenge in his first season with the Aces will be to sustain the momentum of the team after making it to as far as the semifinals in the 2021 WNBA season when they were still being coached by Detroit Pistons legend Bill Laimbeer. The Aces have yet to win a WNBA title, but the franchise (dating back to its Utah Starzz days) has been to the grand stage a couple of times.
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