Becky Hammon Has The Aces at WNBA-Best 13-3 — How Long Until She Leads NBA Team?

[Lockdown504090]

What’s so special about her that she deserves a NBA gig but ACTUAL NBA players that have been assistant coaches for 5-10 years can’t get one?

agree. i think she should have stayed on a couple years longer and she would have found a role. That societal pressure must have been annoying for her every time a spot opened because I think she just wants to coach high level basketball and that "first woman" stuff seemed somewhat secondary to her.

Watching on the aau circuit even, i see quite a few women coaching. a decent amount of these guys, myself included had a female coach(even very attractive ones) and it wasnt really a problem outside of hecklers watching the games.

[Jonny Blaze]

What’s so special about her that she deserves a NBA gig but ACTUAL NBA players that have been assistant coaches for 5-10 years can’t get one?

Because certain segments in our society want to see a woman in a leadership position over African American men.

Why is there not a huge push for woman to coach a Major League Baseball team?

Why is the NBA the only sport that certain fans push for a woman to coach over men?

[chyau.00]

I'd take her over Nash easily.

would love to see comments from irving if this happens

[Lalouie]

there she is and there she'll stay. there was more talk about her future when her future was unclear and still tied to the spurs.
the impediment is deeper than you think.

i believe no team will take a chance because the public will demand a longer leash than most coaches. IF becky becomes the first to get hired then she will also be the first to get fired and i don't think any team wants to put itself in that position. so let's assume she never gets fired - do you see the problem?

it's a ticklish situation no team wants. and for what,,,to be extolled by womens groups around the country??? i don't think so.

You know what would be the best way to avoid a potential backlash for hiring a woman: hiring more women. If Hammon were to be hired and more teams were to follow suit by hiring more female coaches, this probably wouldn't be an issue because at least you'd know that women are being given a fair short. But if she's gets hired and then used as the poster girl representative for every professional female coach in the world, then yeah that's a lot of pressure to put on her and any organization.

and that is how it'll be there is no rush to hire a female coach. i think becky took her name off the list when she opted into the wnba.

this being the first kinda thing is nice in college where it matters more to the instituition. it brings more recognition, maybe more accolades and accolades matter in college. no one's going to put a pro team on a pedestal for doing it.

[azcatz11]

It’s going to have to be the right GM to hire her. If she fails and she gets fired the GM will get fired also because the optics would be absolutely terrible if that GM kept his job but fired Hammond.

You also won’t be able to fire her for probably at least 3 years or the backlash would be horrific.

I would take her over a retread like Terry Stotts any day of the week because I think it would energize what ever team / fan base hires her

[Doctor MJ]

This is bad strawman. Race and Gender are not the same thing.

Very similar strawman to how people try and relate Gay Issues to the issue that African Americans have historically faced in this country.
They are two very different arguments.

Different, but not really that different:

"Black men shouldn't coach basketball because we (the white men in charge) don't believe they understand basketball well enough to coach it."

"Women shouldn't coach men's basketball because they (the male players) won't believe they understand men's basketball well enough to coach it."

No. They are two very different things and arguments.

They speak to two kinds of prejudice.

[DroseReturnChi]

why not take a chance on her and make interim coach on a struggling rockets?

[Doctor MJ]

What’s so special about her that she deserves a NBA gig but ACTUAL NBA players that have been assistant coaches for 5-10 years can’t get one?

So, I've responded to previous posts making clear that I don't think there should be pressure for any particular team looking to make the head coaching decision to choose someone other than the best candidate, and I've never claimed Hammon was the best candidate for any NBA job in the past.

But a couple things:

1. We still exist in a time where NBA players are getting head coaching positions with very little experience. While I'm sure there may be former NBA players that have been assistants for a number of years and aren't getting the call for the big chair, we can be assured that them being passed up has nothing to do with teams not wanting to hire former NBA players. If a former NBA player is around that long and no one sees him as head coaching material, then there's something about HIM that makes them feel that way.

Doesn't mean their feelings are right. Guys like Kareem & Oscar back in the day largely seem to be shut out of cushy NBA gigs because white men didn't feel comfortable hiring a super-smart-Black man who didn't suffer fools. (It's worth analyzing why Russell wasn't in this boat, but that's another topic.)

2. To literally answer your question: The reason why people have said to consider Hammon is that she's seen as very, very smart...which I'd hope everyone in the thread would take as obvious. Why would Pop hire an average jock, man or woman, onto his staff in the first place? Hammon may seem like some random woman to you, but to those who would make decisions, she won't be - for good or for ill.

[Wallace_Wallace]

What’s so special about her that she deserves a NBA gig but ACTUAL NBA players that have been assistant coaches for 5-10 years can’t get one?

While you're correct, Becky Hammon has also been Pop's assistant coach for as long as I could remember (if I have to take a guess, around ten years?). So she does have the credentials for it, she should not have taken a WNBA head coaching gig. She could have stay put until Popovich retires and she'll very likely be the next head coach.

Taking the Las Vegas Aces job somewhat set her resume back in my opinion.

[Free Rider]

What’s so special about her that she deserves a NBA gig but ACTUAL NBA players that have been assistant coaches for 5-10 years can’t get one?

While you're correct, Becky Hammon has also been Pop's assistant coach for as long as I could remember (if I have to take a guess, around ten years?) While she does have the credentials for it, she should not have taken a WNBA head coaching gig. She could have stay put until Popovich retires and she'll very likely be the next head coach.

Taking the Las Vegas Aces job somewhat set her resume back in my opinion.

Perhaps it does, but it’s asking a lot to expect her to turn down a $1 million annual salary on the hope and prayer that one day some NBA team will see past her gender and hire her as their head coach. I honestly can’t blame given the state of affairs in the league right now. She could easily wait another 5-10 years and never get that shot.

[ccvle]

why not take a chance on her and make interim coach on a struggling rockets?

Because firing afterward her would look really bad.

[FrodoFraggins]

The league is moving more and more to only wanting former NBA players. This is because that is who the players respect most. She'd need to find a team where the starters all respect and believe in her. That may be very difficult. It doesn't help that coaches always sign multi year deals and so if she doesn't work out you'll be paying her for a long time.

[spanishninja]

Is WNBA experience really any translation at all for NBA experience?

If she was going to get a head coaching job it would have been because Pop gave the heads up after being 7 years there as an assistant, her going to the WNBA suggests he didn't.

one major difference between WNBA and NBA is length of season. coaching NBA means you gotta know how to balance between keeping players motivated and focused and avoiding burning/injuries. Monty struggled big time with that this season.

[Kent]

Frankly I'm shocked to read how many posters think it's a bad idea for her to lead an NBA team.

More and more women are being hired in front office positions across every sport. There's no reason women can't succeed in the coaching ranks.

Basketball is basketball.

[celticfan42487]

there she is and there she'll stay. there was more talk about her future when her future was unclear and still tied to the spurs.
the impediment is deeper than you think.

i believe no team will take a chance because the public will demand a longer leash than most coaches. IF becky becomes the first to get hired then she will also be the first to get fired and i don't think any team wants to put itself in that position. so let's assume she never gets fired - do you see the problem?

it's a ticklish situation no team wants. and for what,,,to be extolled by womens groups around the country??? i don't think so.

You know what would be the best way to avoid a potential backlash for hiring a woman: hiring more women. If Hammon were to be hired and more teams were to follow suit by hiring more female coaches, this probably wouldn't be an issue because at least you'd know that women are being given a fair short. But if she's gets hired and then used as the poster girl representative for every professional female coach in the world, then yeah that's a lot of pressure to put on her and any organization.

and that is how it'll be there is no rush to hire a female coach. i think becky took her name off the list when she opted into the wnba.

this being the first kinda thing is nice in college where it matters more to the instituition. it brings more recognition, maybe more accolades and accolades matter in college. no one's going to put a pro team on a pedestal for doing it.

Well no one that cares about the basketball and winning will. But no you better believe a lot of non basketball fans and all the media will. They'll instantly become a topic and their wins will be cheered on with great abandon.

[Jonny Blaze]

Frankly I'm shocked to read how many posters think it's a bad idea for her to lead an NBA team.

More and more women are being hired in front office positions across every sport. There's no reason women can't succeed in the coaching ranks.

Basketball is basketball.

Lets cut out the Politically Correct BS.....do you really think an extreme alpha male who through sheer hard work and dedication has made himself into being one of the 500 best basketball players in the World is going to have the same level of fear or respect for a woman than he would over Greg Popovich, Pat Riley or Jason Kidd?

If the answer is no.....then that team is putting themselves at a disadvantage to teams that will hire a great male coach
Are free agents going to flock to a team that is being coached by a woman as some sort of feminist experiment?

No one has answered my question as to why so many people are pushing for a woman to coach in the NBA, and not in MLB or football.

[Free Rider]

Frankly I'm shocked to read how many posters think it's a bad idea for her to lead an NBA team.

More and more women are being hired in front office positions across every sport. There's no reason women can't succeed in the coaching ranks.

Basketball is basketball.

Lets cut out the Politically Correct BS.....do you really think an extreme alpha male who through sheer hard work and dedication has made himself into being one of the 500 best basketball players in the World is going to have the same level of fear or respect for a woman than he would over Greg Popovich, Pat Riley or Jason Kidd?

If the answer is no.....then that team is putting themselves at a disadvantage to teams that will hire a great male coach
Are free agents going to flock to a team that is being coached by a woman as some sort of feminist experiment?

No one has answered my question as to why so many people are pushing for a woman to coach in the NBA, and not in MLB or football.

People are pushing for a women to coach in the NFL and MLB but you're probably not aware of it because you've already convinced yourself that "alpha males" won't ever listen to a woman. There are actually quite a number of offensive and defensive line coaches in the NFL that have been mentioned potential head coaches in the near future. Just take a look of the following articles and you'll find a number of female coaches in the NFL who have been listed as potential head coaches:

https://onherturf.nbcsports.com/2021/09/09/2021-nfl-season-record-12-women-coaches/

https://apnews.com/article/tampa-bay-buccaneers-nfl-entertainment-sports-business-41ac77339383073ac3796b6bd8032ab3

https://www.forbes.com/sites/emilyiannaconi/2021/09/08/the-nfls-record-12-women-coaches-in-2021-is-both-overdue-and-just-in-time/?sh=3d5912463faf

These conservations are happening whether or not you choose to pay attention to it.

[Hangtime84]

Hornets should have hired her

[SOUL]

What’s so special about her that she deserves a NBA gig but ACTUAL NBA players that have been assistant coaches for 5-10 years can’t get one?

Fun fact: Hammon had been an assistant for 8 years.

[Jadoogar]

Frankly I'm shocked to read how many posters think it's a bad idea for her to lead an NBA team.

More and more women are being hired in front office positions across every sport. There's no reason women can't succeed in the coaching ranks.

Basketball is basketball.

Lets cut out the Politically Correct BS.....do you really think an extreme alpha male who through sheer hard work and dedication has made himself into being one of the 500 best basketball players in the World is going to have the same level of fear or respect for a woman than he would over Greg Popovich, Pat Riley or Jason Kidd?

Why is this hypothetical alpha male respect Nick Nurse (never played in the NBA), Eric Spolestra (never played in the NBA) or Derek Fisher (career role player, rolled out of bed and got handed a head coaching job)?