Before she led the Las Vegas Aces to the city's first title by a professional sports team there, Becky Hammon was an assistant coach for the San Antonio Spurs. There was a point where it looked like she was about to become the first woman to be a head coach in the NBA but Hammon decided to go back to the league where she was an all-time great. She went on Adrian Wojnarowski's podcast to discuss why she decided it was the right time for her to go back to the WNBA.
Full audio of @BeckyHammon on The Woj Pod: https://t.co/QgYUOR6HGt pic.twitter.com/TrZFHv4WJG
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) December 9, 2022
“The one thing about being a trailblazer…people see you on the court and doing your job but they don't get to see the nicks, the cuts and the bruises along the way,” Hammon said. “Think about going through a jungle and you're trying to hack away. You get these nicks and bruises and beat up along the way. There's little things, some unintentional, and I think for me weighing that decision, [the Aces head coaching job] was just too good to pass up.
“I had watched [the Aces]. They were super talented group but then Mark Davis' buy-in…there's something to being wanted and I felt like they pursued me. In the NBA, yeah I was close but in some ways I thought it could be this next year and in some ways we are still 10-15 years away from this.”
In her first season with the Aces, Hammon reorganized the offense and implemented NBA concepts into her scheme that propelled Las Vegas to have the best offensive attacks in the league. She helped transform Kelsey Plum's game to another level and let the first-time All-Star play with more freedom.
Hammon said before the 2022 season she was excited to return to the WNBA.
“I never left out coming back to the WNBA because I love the WNBA,” Hammon told ESPN. I'm passionate about the women in it in — not only what they do on the court, but what they represent. And so I'm excited to give back.”
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