By Yaron Weitzman
FOX Sports NBA Writer
EDITOR’S NOTE: This story is part of FOX Sports’ series commemorating the 50th anniversary of Title IX, which was enacted into law on June 23, 1972. The series tells the stories of significant women in sports today, both celebrating the progress that has been made and recognizing the barriers that still remain.
Becky Hammon is thrilled to be where she is. She wants me to know that. She wants you to know that. She wants everyone to know that.
“I mean, I can’t believe that people would think I wouldn’t go back to the WNBA,” she told me over Zoom. “Why wouldn’t I? That’s where I came from. That’s my roots. Like, the fact that people would think that is, quite frankly, insulting and ignorant.”
It was March, and Hammon was working double duty. She was still a full-time assistant coach with the San Antonio Spurs — with whom she spent the past eight years — but was also laying the foundation for her new job as head coach of the WNBA’s Las Vegas Aces, a move that was announced around the new year.
“It’s been nuts,” Hammon said. She had been alternating between scouting Spurs’ opponents and studying up on the Aces and the WNBA as a whole. “My main focus right now is learning everybody’s tendencies and skill levels and trying to then put in a system that will fit that along with my idea and my vision of what I want the team to look like.”
Hammon was taking over an Aces group that boasted a pair of former No. 1 picks in A’ja Wilson and Kelsey Plum and finished the previous season with the Western Conference’s best record.
But Hammon still thought there was room for improvement.
“Especially on offense,” she said, “I think it will look a lot different this year than they have in years past.”
The announcement that Hammon was taking the Aces’ job was met with a mix of reactions — and kick-started an entire take cycle. Some were thrilled that one of the WNBA’s greatest players and a barrier-breaking coach was returning…
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