San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich has nothing but respect and admiration at what Becky Hammon is able to accomplish as a woman in the male-dominant world of the NBA.

Hammon, who has been recently promoted by San Antonio to an assistant coach role following the departure of now Charlotte Hornets bench boss James Borrego, was the lone subject Popovich was interested of talking about when he was surrounded by reporters on Thursday after running the show in the first day of Team USA’s minicamp in Las Vegas, per Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express-News.

“She's a special, special woman,” Popovich said. “You know we promoted her again. She's going to be on the front of the bench now, sitting next to me. She's not behind the bench anymore. She's on the bench because J.B. Borrego took the head job in Charlotte. So she's replacing him. That's how much I think of her.”

Becky Hammon was first hired by the Spurs to be part of their coaching staff in 2014. Hammon broke a gender barrier the following year when she became the first-ever female head coach to mentor in the NBA's Summer League. And now, she moves another step closer of fulfilling her dreams of becoming the first-ever female bench boss in the NBA. That dream will have to wait, but the probability of which is no longer as far-fetched as it used to be.