Becky Hammon, former WNBA player for the San Antonio Stars, ranked among the league’s 15 best players of 2011, is now the assistant coach for the San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs rank number one in the Southwest conference, putting Hammon at the helm of a $660 million powerhouse.
It’s refreshing to see the WNBA taken seriously, especially by the NBA. The lack of attention or praise the WNBA receives is incredibly disproportionate to the talent of its players. The WNBA averaged 80.35 points per game in 2010, recently signed Brittney Griner – Dunking Extraordinaire- and has inked deals with big time sponsors, Proctor & Gamble included. Yet sportswriters still love to claim that the WNBA is a debt-ridden mistake, bound for failure.
Hammon is not one to let this blatant sexism stand in her way, as she’s been a basketball trailblazer since high school. Her resume includes South Dakota H.S. Player of the Year, Colorado State University’s first All-American athlete, and being one of only seven WNBA players to score 5000 points in her career. Now, Becky Hammon is adding first female assistant coach for any of the four male professional USA sports leagues (MLB, NHL, NFL, NBA) to her resume.
I’m sure Coach Hammon will do an incredible job, and I hope it paves the way for more female coaches in the future. It’s about time that women’s sports were taken more seriously in this country and all over the globe.
Images via: contendersblog.com, nytimes.com, pbs.org
