Becky Hammon had known for some time that she was going to be coaching San Antonio’s summer league team in Las Vegas.
When her phone blew up Friday, she knew the secret was out.
Hammon spoke out for the first time Saturday about the history-making move by the Spurs, who have given the former WNBA star player the chance to become the first woman who’ll serve as a head coach in an NBA summer league. She’ll lead San Antonio’s entry in the Las Vegas league — the biggest of the three NBA summer showcases — starting next weekend.
“I’m still seeing what kind of head coach I’m going to be,” Hammon told reporters in San Antonio, with the video of the interview posted to the team’s web site.
She’ll have a better idea of that in a couple weeks.
The Spurs will first play in a summer league at Utah starting Monday, when they’ll be led by video coordinator Will Hardy. When they shift to Las Vegas for the league’s biggest of its three summer showcases, Hammon — given the assignment by Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, who made her the NBA’s first paid full-time female assistant coach before last season — will be in charge.