Becky Hammon, an assistant coach for the San Antonio Spurs, became the first woman head coach of an NBA team  when former head coach Gregg Popvich was ejected from the game. After he argued with the officials, he turned to Hammon, who became head coach for the rest of the game. 

“He officially pointed at me,” Hammon said. “That was it. Said, ‘You’ve got them.’”

Hammon didn’t have much time to react, but she knew she had to step up for the team. The players were already used to hearing her voice from practice, so having her coach them was nothing new to them. 

“It was business as usual,’’ Hammon told The New York Times. “They’re used to hearing my voice in practice. In practice, Pop will put us in two teams and we’ll each have a team. So they’re kind of used to hearing me out there, seeing me draw a play on the board or whatnot.” 

When she had to step up for her team, she knew that she was making history, but she just wanted to walk away from that game knowing that her team did everything they could to try to win.

 “(I was) trying to get the guys in the right spots,” Hammon told WBTV. “Trying to get them motivated. Obviously, it’s a learning situation for all of us, but I would have loved to have walked out there with a win with the guys.” Even though they didn’t walk away with the win that night, it was still a huge accomplishment for Hammon.

Hammon has made history before in the league when she became assistant coach for the Spurs. According to WBTV, Hammon was the first full-time female assistant coach in league history. Hammon is paving the way for many women in the league following her. 

Making history in basketball is not why she does it though, it is for her love of basketball. 

Her passion for coaching and the game reaches everyone in the league. “It’s a beautiful thing just to hear her barking out calls, barking out sets,” said LeBron James of the Lakers. “She’s very passionate about the game. So congrats to her, congrats to our league.” 

Hammon continues to make history and pave the way for young women in basketball and in other sports. As she returns back to assistant coach, she hopes there will be many other opportunities to be head coach once again. She plans to continue to advance as a coach until she reaches her goal.