The San Antonio Spurs casually burst through one of professional sports’ oldest glass ceilings today when they announced they’d hired WNBA star Becky Hammon to be their assistant coach. It makes Hammon the first paid female coach in the NBA’s regular season history. It comes on the heels of Natalie Nakase becoming the first woman to coach an NBA squad during the summer league, where she led the Los Angeles Clippers, and more than a decade after Lisa Boyer worked as an unpaid assistant for the Cleveland Cavaliers back in the 2001-2002 season. According to the Spurs head coach, Greg Popovich: “I very much look forward to the addition of Becky Hammon to our staff. 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” …
