Would You Want Becky Hammon To Coach Your NBA Team?
By Ben Gibson
Would you want Becky Hammon to coach your NBA team?
More in more, the answer in NBA circles is yes.
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Ken Berger of CBS Sports reported that many of the people who may one day have to answer that question are looking at it as more than just a hypothetical one.
"“In conversations with multiple team executives and decision-makers around the NBA, there is no question Hammon has gained traction as a potentially serious head-coaching candidate. Just as important, the conventional thinking about what teams look for in a coach have begun to shift dramatically.With some more huddles under her command, and more gameplans up her sleeve, Hammon could prove to be the woman who arrives at the right place at the right time in a sports culture that is primed for new thinking.‘Why not?’ one Eastern Conference executive told CBSSports.com. ‘She has the qualities necessary, and with an organization’s backing, she could do it. She’s obviously learned under the best.’Another Eastern Conference executive said, ‘She would be high on my list. She’s short-list worthy.'”"
Berger goes on to point out that there is still a long way to go before she might become a head coach because she has only one year of NBA coaching experience. She certainly has name recognition, but she still has a lot to prove with the Spurs organization before she will get a shot.
If Luke Walton and the Golden State Warriors Summer League team had made their way to the finals and won instead of Hammon, I doubt we would be discussing if he was ready to take over for Steve Kerr when he retired. And that’s fine. There’s nothing wrong with pointing out she’s getting a little extra press because she is a woman. The media enjoys reporting on things that are unique. Considering Hammon is only one of two women on coaching staffs in the NBA, I think she qualifies as unique.
The only other woman working in a coaching role in the NBA in Natalie Nakase. She works as an assistant video coordinator for Los Angeles Clippers and she’s already tread on some of the same ground Hammon went through this summer as Nakase was an assistant coach last year for the Clippers’ Summer League team.
Nakase may best represent why the question of either one becoming a head coach shouldn’t be an issue at all. Like Frank Vogel and Erik Spoelstra, she started out as a video intern. All three of them played in college, though Nakase is the only one who played on the professional level in any way. But the point would be if two men with only limited college playing experience can end up earning the respect of NBA players, why couldn’t Hammon or Nakase earn that same respect?
I think it might be fair to say Hammon or Nakase were better athletes than Vogel ever was. In particular, Hammon proved herself on the floor with her distinguished playing career so if anything I’d argue that gives her even more credibility as a coach than the positions Vogel and Spoelstra started from. They got the chance and proved themselves.
This isn’t a situation like Ann Meyers in 1979 trying out for a spot on the Indiana Pacers. Meyers’ chances were slim to none not because she didn’t know basketball, but because she stood at 5’8″. Even a bigger player like Brittney Griner would have issues playing the the NBA as 6’8″ is the average height in the league. Diana Taurasi was often asked if she could play in the NBA, but she said no for the same reason: the physical differences between men and women.
"“‘If you could put me in a machine that could make me 6-foot-5 and as strong as they were, I could play in the NBA,’ Taurasi said. ‘When you talk about how physically superior they are. … I can’t help it. [Sue] can’t help it. Skill-wise, knowing the game, there’s no difference between men and women … it would be really hard. It’s a long shot.'”"
But at the end of that quote Taurasi hit on why it shouldn’t be a big issue for women to coach. Hammon or Nakase may never have had the bodies to play in the NBA, but their minds certainly could have and they’re both showing it now. As much as sports can bring out the worst is some people’s bigotry, results often win out over time. Hammon in particular got results in the Las Vegas Summer League.
Do you think Doc Rivers or especially Gregg Popovich would want them around if they couldn’t handle the mental work that goes into coaching? Hammon getting a start with the Spurs was perfect because that organization isn’t going to do something strictly for P.R. reasons. Nor is it being pushed as cynically as similar stories have been.
The media, for better or worse, can get hooked on these stories where someone from one demographic breaks from our perceived norms. The fact Jeremy Lin was Asian when Linsanity was in full-swing seemed to be a bigger narrative than the No. 467th best player in the NBA was playing like one of the best. Sure, there aren’t many Asians in the NBA, but should people be that shocked that one of the Ivy League’s best players in recent memory could play the game with a little flair?
It’s a tough tightrope to walk for the media and progressives that want to celebrate the occasion, but it also risks turning the minority that is breaking through into a novelty. There is nothing wrong with noticing these things, but they shouldn’t be the only reason they get attention. I hope that the fact Hammon or Nakase are women is more of a side-note than anything else because what they can do as coaches is how we should be talking about them.
In the end, results are all that really matter to players and coaches in the NBA. It is unfortunate that there even has to be a discussion about her or Nakase’s credibility as coaches, but we’re still at a point where NBA championship winning coaches have to answer questions about who they hire just because their newest assistant or video coordinator is a woman.
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As long as Hammon or any other woman is getting results on the court, then nothing else should matter.