Becky Hammon has done pretty much everything anyone in the world of professional basketball could possibly dream of. She was a six-time All-Star as a player in the WNBA despite going undrafted in 1999, she found success in international competitions, and she has been a pioneer as a coach. Now, Hammon is well-known as the coach who led the Aces to three championships in four years, but she also did great things before coming to Las Vegas. Hammon was one of the first women to join the NBA assistant coaching ranks, the first woman to lead an NBA Summer League team, and the first woman to act as a head coach in an NBA game when Gregg Popovich was ejected early in a Spurs game in 2020.
In over 70 years of existence, the NBA has never had a woman serve as a head coach. Due to her success with the Spurs and the endorsements of fellow coaches and NBA players, Becky Hammon was widely expected to shatter that glass ceiling. She was already a finalist for the head coaching position with the Portland Trail Blazers in 2021, but the job ultimately went to Chauncey Billups.
Ever since Becky Hammon joined the Aces and led the core of A’ja Wilson, Jackie Young, Chelsea Gray, and Kelsey Plum to their first championship in 2022, some fans have been worried about an impending move to the NBA. Hammon eased that fear when she appeared on Post Moves with Candace Parker and Aliyah Boston, stressing how happy she was with her job in Las Vegas.
“That’s why I said I can go coach in the NBA. There’s not a doubt in my mind that I can do the job,” Hammon said. “I’m super happy with where I’m at. I got a bomb team, I love my girls, and it’s been so fun being back on the women’s side, honestly, not only to see the growth but to be part of that water that was poured in to now where we got the tipping point.”
It seems that Hammon plans to be a part of the WNBA and the Aces for at least a while longer.
Becky Hammon is one of the most successful WNBA coaches ever
Hammon moved from a league in which her playing experience was undervalued, she was often the only woman in the room, and her ideas weren’t always heard to a league in which she was recognized as one of the brightest minds in the game and her playing days gave her an edge over her competition. The move paid off immediately. Becky Hammon became the first rookie head coach in the WNBA to lead a team to a championship in their first year. In the NBA, only five rookie head coaches achieved that feat.
After that 2022 championship, the Aces never slowed down. They won again in 2023 and then captured their third title this season despite some early struggles and personnel changes. With three championships, Hammon is already one of the winningest coaches in WNBA history. Only Van Chancellor, who led the Houston Comets in the WNBA’s early days, and Cheryl Reeve have won more titles.
However, considering the Aces’ trajectory, Hammon seems to be on track to tie or even overtake them for the most titles in league history. The Aces’ core players may all enter unrestricted free agency soon, but the expectation is that Wilson, Young, and Gray will all be back in Las Vegas to defend their 2025 title.