Woman named to NBA coaching staff

FILE - In this April 30, 2014, file photo, San Antonio Stars' Becky Hammon walks off the court following Game 5 of the opening-round NBA basketball playoff series between the San Antonio Spurs and the Dallas Mavericks. AP Photo/Eric Gay, File.

It’s not hard to find men coaching sports played by women. So why aren’t there women coaching men’s teams?

Ask no more, NBA fans. The San Antonio Spurs, perhaps the finest basketball organization in America, today hired a woman as an assistant coach.

Becky Hammon is in her final season — her 16th — with the WNBA San Antonio Stars and will move to the NBA team coaching staff for the upcoming season.

She becomes the first woman to be an assistant coach of a good NBA team. Lisa Boyer was along for the ride on John Lucas’ 2001-02 Cleveland staff as a volunteer. The Cavaliers finished 29-53.

About the blogger

Bob Collins

bcollins@mpr.org • @newscut

Bob Collins retired from Minnesota Public Radio in 2019 after 12 years of writing NewsCut and pointing out to complainants that posts weren’t news stories. A son of Massachusetts, he was a news editor 1992-1998, created the MPR News regional website in 1999, invented the popular Select A Candidate, started several blogs, and every day lamented that his Minnesota Fantasy Legislature project never caught on.