Spurs make history by hiring female assistant coach

If he doesn't already, he will when she's retooling his stroke to her form:

Spoiler

 

She's a dike but I still see issues if Pop is grooming and plans to leave after next season.

 

I wonder which Spurs player is going to hit it first?

 

Only because there was no Nigerian Basketball team.

 

Pops signed a multi-year extension, so I doubt he's leaving after next season.

And given how the Spurs operate and that she's longtime friends with Duncan, Parker and Ginobili, I highly doubt anyone on that roster is going to be difficult. It's not like the Spurs sign a lot of knuckleheads...

 

I really wonder how NBA players--who have taken basketball direction/coaching/input from men only since they were 6 years old--will receive anything constructive from a woman.

Will they easily accept it? Will it take time to overcome the barrier? Will it work in SA because Pop demands so much, but it would fail elsewhere?

(I love the hiring, and love that SA did it. Hope it works and that we open up more great basketball minds to the sport)

 

Really?

 

No telling how it will turn out, but if I were to bet money I think it will work out on SA better than almost any other team for multiple reasons...

1) Pops and his immense stature. Everyone on the team and in the organization trusts Pops implicitly. If Pops brought in a poodle and told his players they should pay attention, they would most likely line up and pay attention to the poodle. If Hammon has the support of Pops, everyone will most likely fall in line, including the fans in SA.

2) Long standing relationship with the SAS players and organization. Hammon was with the Stars for 8 years. The Stars are also owned by the Spurs so she is not only well known throughout the organization, but well known by the players. She has long standing friendships with Duncan, Ginobili and Parker (going back to 2008), and it has been stated multiple times by her and by the players that she is respected for her level of basketball knowledge. With the heavy hitters backing her, I don't see any role players getting out of line.

3) A full year working on the sidelines with Pops and the Spurs already in the equivalent of an intern position. Last year she already helped run practices, ran drills with players, sat in on coaching meetings, and did film room breakdowns with the rest of the coaches. This isn't someone you're bringing in from out of nowhere... this is someone that you already know and have worked with before in some capacity. In essence, it's like giving an expanded role to an intern. The Spurs know who she is, has an idea of what she can bring to the table, and her presence with the team is nothing new to any of the players on the roster.

4) Veteran team. This isn't a bunch of 20 year old rookies... this is a veteran laden team that is also very professional. They're concerned with only one thing and that's winning another championship, which means that if they think that she can help them achieve that goal then they're not going to let anything get in the way of that.

5) Lack of knuckleheads. The Spurs very carefully screen their prospective player on the basis of personality and character. They avoid high drama players and players with behavioral issues. There is nobody like a Demarcus Cousins on the roster to grandstand or generate locker room dissension.

6) The community already knows her well. She's highly respected in SAS as the longtime face of the Stars, and she's done a ton of community work within SA. Among the Spurs fans the general consensus runs the gamut from "she was impressive on the Stars so she knows the game" to "I'm not sure, but if Pops gives her his blessing, that's all I need to know".

7) Highly stable organization. Pops has no fear of being fired, nor does Buford. As long as Pops and Buford want her there, she'll be on the staff regardless of what anyone else thinks.

Is this the only team that this would work on? Not sure I'd say that. However, in terms of being the first team to bring on a female assistant coach, I think that hands down this is the absolute best situation to give her the maximum shot at long term success.

Given Pops' and Buford's respect and control within the organization, that she's already a known quantity to the SAS players and community, and that she's already been operating in an informal capacity as an assistant coach for the Spurs through the entirety of last season, I don't see the same sort of acclimation process that you'd see on most teams bringing in a new assistant coach.

As for the potential success beyond the Spurs, that it's the Spurs hiring her instantly gives her a very high level of credibility across the NBA. As has been noted before by various reporters and others interviewed in the NBA and WNBA, not only are the Spurs and Pops very highly respected across the NBA for the way they operate, they are (in)famous for their aversion to doing anything for the purposes of publicity.

On many other teams her hiring would be questioned as a publicity gimmick. Given that it's the Spurs and that they're the reigning world champions, I haven't read a single reporter/media outlet implying that this is in any way a publicity gimmick.

For women in the future these factors won't matter as much, however as the first full time, paid woman in the NBA coaching ranks these secondary factors will make a difference when viewed through the lens of other front offices, coaches and athletic directors at the NBA, Euro and College levels.

A common theme I seem to be seeing is basically falling along the lines of, "If it's good enough for the Spurs, then who are we to argue?".

5 championships and 15 consecutive seasons of winning 50+ games gives the Spurs a lot of rope in terms of how this hiring decision is viewed. And that she's learning from Pops and Co. will lend substantial weight to the time she puts in on the sidelines.

2 or 3 years working with Pops is worth more in terms of coaching pedigree than working anywhere else in the world of Basketball.

 

Becky, huh?