Becky Hammon Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Latest On Bucks’ GM Search

June 1st, 2017 at 5:16pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Milwaukee will begin formal interviews for its open GM position on Monday, Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical reports.

The team has been granted permission to speak with Blazer assistant GM Bill Branch, Heat assistant GM Adam Simon, and Pistons assistant GM Pat Garrity, according to Wojnarowski.

The scribe adds that the Bucks have reached out to the Spurs assistant coach Becky Hammon about the opening. Hammon has been working under coach Gregg Popovich for three seasons.

Milwaukee previously reached out to Indiana and gained permission to speak with the team’s VP of basketball operations Peter Dinwiddie. Wojnarowski adds that the franchise also has permission to speak with Denver assistant GM Arturas Karnisovas, Grizzlies VP of player personnel Ed Stefanski and Hawks special advisor Wes Wilcox.

Justin Zanik, who is currently running the team as its assistant GM, remains a strong candidate for the position. Zanik is gathering “significant support” inside and outside the organization, Wojnarowski writes. He joined the team with the expectation that he would be the GM-in-waiting once John Hammond‘s contract expired. Hammond recently left the franchise to become Orlando’s GM.

Becky Hammon Turns Down Florida Coaching Job

March 27th, 2017 at 1:40pm CST by Milo Taibi

MARCH 27: Hammon has turned down Florida’s offer and will remain with the Spurs, sources tell Mike Robinson of Swish Appeal.

MARCH 24: Spurs assistant coach and WNBA legend Becky Hammon is considering a lucrative offer to coach women’s basketball at the University of Florida, according to a report from Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical. Per Wojnarowski, Hammon’s offer would be a considerable raise from her current salary with the Spurs.

Currently in her third year as an assistant coach, Hammon aspires to be the NBA’s first female head coach; a factor which makes the Gators’ offer a dilemma.

Hammon’s 16-year WNBA career reached a conclusion after the 2014 season. David Lee, a member of the Spurs who attended University of Florida, vouched for Hammon as a potential boon for the program.

“If anybody’s going to do it, it would be her,” Lee told ESPN. “Knowing the makeup of the campus and how the women’s basketball is there, she’d be a great fit.”

Likely further complicating Hammon’s decision is her close relationship with Gregg Popovich. Hammon has spoken highly of the three-time Coach of the Year, crediting him with her opportunity to coach in the NBA.

“I’m not here unless Coach Pop kind of sees me genderless — he sees me as a person that knows basketball,” Hammon said on the NBA’s YouTube channel. “He didn’t care that I was a woman. What he cared about was, can I help the team and will I do a good job. Pop leaned in for me, big time. You know, I might have been the tool, but Pop, he thrust me through that ceiling. The fact that he invited me into their inner-circle was a huge vote of confidence, and I do believe leadership knows no gender.”

And-Ones: Miller, Haywood, Hammon

July 26th, 2015 at 10:32pm CST by Will Joseph

Mike Miller landing with the Thunder seems like an unlikely outcome, Anthony Slater of The Oklahoman writes. Miller was reportedly traded from the Cavs to the Blazers and is expected to be released. Joining the Thunder would be an interesting move because Miller played under new Thunder coach Billy Donovan at Florida between 1998-2000, as Slater points out, and the two are very close friends, Slater adds. However, Miller, 35, who is coming off his worst season, reportedly wanted out from Cleveland because he wants more playing time and that would be hard to find with the Thunder, Slater adds. The team also won’t have a spot on the roster for him, Slater notes.

The Sixers discussed trading for Brendan Haywood with the Cavs before the big man was reportedly dealt to the Blazers, reports SI.com’s Jake Fischer, who cites a source (on Twitter).
Spurs assistant Becky Hammon has gained traction as a potentially serious head-coaching candidate, Ken Berger of CBSSports.com writes after several conversations with league executives. More importantly, from Berger’s perspective, the culture around the league toward a female head coach has changed drastically. One executive from the Eastern Conference told Berger that Hammon “would be high on my list.” Another said, “Why not? She has the qualities necessary, and with an organization’s backing, she could do it. She’s obviously learned under the best.”
Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak wanted to meet with Nick Young to tell Young not to consider the signing of Lou Williams a slap in the face, Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News reports (on Twitter). The Kupchak and Young met recently and afterward Young, who has been the subject of trade rumors this summer, said he felt confident he would remain with the team.

Hoops Rumors Community Shootaround 7/22/15

July 22nd, 2015 at 11:59pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Spurs assistant coach Becky Hammon recently led San Antonio’s entry in the Las Vegas Summer League to the Summer Championship title. Hammon has drawn rave reviews from players and coaches alike for her basketball knowledge, as well as ability to relate to players. The Spurs had made Hammon an unofficial coaching intern in 2013/14 when she accepted their invitation for her to shadow the coaching staff during games, practices and meetings, and she’s since become a regular member of San Antonio’s staff under coach Gregg Popovich. While she’s not the first woman to coach in the NBA — Lisa Boyer was on the Cavs’ bench back in 2001/02, and Natalie Nakase served as an assistant coach in the summer league with the Clippers last year, she may have the best shot to date of any female to land an NBA head coaching gig.

So here’s our question of the day for you: What are Becky Hammon’s chances of landing a head coaching position in the NBA?

The Spurs’ organization, in addition to being simply one of the best in all of sports, is also one of the more forward thinking franchises in all of basketball. If Hammon indeed has the chops to run a team full-time, she could potentially become the coach in waiting for when Popovich finally decides to retire from the game, as well as stymieing inquisitive reporters with his incredibly succinct responses. But is the league ready to accept a female coach? How far is the NBA actually away from adding a woman to its head coaching ranks? Do you see Hammon becoming Pops’ eventual successor? Sound off in the comments section below with your thoughts and opinions. We look forward to what you have to say.

Of course, there will always be differing opinions. While we absolutely encourage lively discussion and debate, we do expect everyone to treat each other with respect. So, please refrain from inappropriate language, personal insults or attacks, as well as the other taboo types of discourse laid out in our site’s commenting policy. Speaking of commenting: we’ve made it much easier to leave a comment here at Hoops Rumors. Just put in your name, email address, and comment and submit it; there is no need to become a registered user.

Western Notes: Hammon, Terry, Teletovic, Jazz

July 22nd, 2015 at 8:59am CST by Chuck Myron

Former Nets executive Bobby Marks says he would call Spurs assistant Becky Hammon first if he were running a team and looking for a head coach (Twitter link). Hammon has been a full-time NBA assistant for only one season, but she guided the Spurs to the Las Vegas Summer League title as the first female summer league head coach and commanded the attention of her players, as Sean Deveney of The Sporting News details.

“She’s just a good coach,” said Kyle Anderson, San Antonio’s 2014 first-round pick. “Everybody listens to her like they would anyone else. I mean, she’s the coach.”

The arrival of the first female head coach for regular season play still seems a long way off, but, as Dan McCarney of the San Antonio Express-News points out, the Spurs have once more proven they’re not afraid of innovation. Here’s more from around the Western Conference:

Jason Terry confirmed Monday that he’s close to a deal with the Rockets, but Houston has renounced his Bird rights, according to the RealGM transactions log. That means the team is limited to paying him a deal with a starting salary of no more than the roughly $2MM slice of the mid-level exception left over from the K.J. McDaniels signing, which also took up a portion of the mid-level.
Upheaval has surrounded the Suns during GM Ryan McDonough‘s first two seasons on the job, but this week he signaled that he’s settled on his main players, as Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic documents. “It took a little while to get to a core we liked but we think we finally have that and have the ability to be successful this year and then hopefully build on that and add to it a year from now when the cap spikes up and we have cap space to bring in guys that help our young core,” McDonough said.
The Suns signed Mirza Teletovic for only one year, but they hope to re-sign him to a new deal next summer, Coro writes in the same piece.
The Jazz‘s three-year deal with Tibor Pleiss is worth an even $9MM, and the team’s three-year deal with Raul Neto is worth precisely $2,852,546, reports Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link).

Spurs Name Becky Hammon Assistant Coach

August 5th, 2014 at 11:52am CST by Chuck Myron

Becky Hammon has become just the second woman to hold a formal NBA assistant coaching position, as the Spurs announced in a press release today that they’ve hired her for their staff. Lisa Boyer was on the Cavs bench in 2001/02. Natalie Nakase served as an assistant coach in the summer league with the Clippers this year.

“I very much look forward to the addition of Becky Hammon to our staff,” Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich said in the team’s statement. “Having observed her working with our team this past season, I’m confident her basketball IQ, work ethic and interpersonal skills will be a great benefit to the Spurs.”

Hammon will team with fellow Spurs assistant Ettore Messina, who joined the staff earlier this summer in an unusual, though not unprecedented, jump from overseas. David Blatt became the first coach to go from leading an overseas club to a head coaching position in the NBA when the Cavs hired him in June. The NBA also broke ground this year when the Nets signed Jason Collins, who became the first openly gay male athlete in the NBA, NFL or Major League Baseball.

The Spurs made Hammon an unofficial coaching intern of sorts this past season when she accepted their invitation for her to shadow the coaching staff during games, practices and meetings, as Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News detailed in February. The 37-year-old Hammon is in her final season as a WNBA player as she wraps up a 16-year career in the league. She’s spent the past eight summers as a member of the WNBA’s San Antonio Silver Stars, who fall under the same ownership umbrella as the Spurs.