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Shalaina Sutton

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CBS Evening News.(2015).

Becky Hammon, first female NBA coach, earns respect. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_yLKJ7s5TA

Lindsey,Lindsey.(2015).
Becky Hammon to coach Spurs' summer league team.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7S0V0SBxjY

Wikipedia.(2015).Becky Hammon.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Becky_Hammon

Erik Bacharach.(2015).

Becky Hammon's coaching journey no surprise to former colleagues.http://www.newsday.com/sports/basketball/liberty/becky-hammon-s-coaching-journey-no-surprise-to-former-colleagues-1.10698768

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In my opinion I believe the reason why this issue needs to addressed in the future is because most males think that anything related to any type of sports should be only be men involved and that is not the case. Women are human beings as well that are also born into the world with talents just like men but we aren't really given the opportunity as much because people under estimate us because of our gender. In this case with Becky Hammon many people have their opinions because they never seen a female take part in the NBA world but don't realize that this can be a positive impact to prove to others that women have exactly what it takes and knows the games just like men do.

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How Becky feels about coaching

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Becky Hammon, first female NBA coach, earns respect

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History was made in the NBA this month when Becky Hammon was named head coach of the San Antonio Spurs summer league team

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Rebecca Lynn Hammon also known as Becky Hammon played numerous of years in the W.N.B.A. She played eight years with the New York Liberty and another right ears with the San Antonio Stars. She announced her retirement as a player on July 23, 2014 due to a torn ACL. Becky Hammon never thought of being an assistant coach she mainly considered the next phase of her career from the sidelines. The Spurs head coach Greg Popovich extended an invitation for her to shadow his staff and help out for the D League. From there she spent a good portion of the 2013-4 NBA season attending the Spurs practices, meetings and film sessions. She made a strong impression on Popovich, who praised her understanding of the games and when to sit back and know her place. When Beck Hammon made the decision to retire, the Spurs were confident that the time was absolutely right to bring her aboard.

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Significance of the Issue Being Researched:

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Significance of the Issue Being Researched:

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The reason why my topic I chose to write about with Greg Popovich deciding to put Becky Hammon as the assistant coach is important because many people under estimate women and thier talents. Many people today think that Greg Popovich could have made a better decision on making someone else as an assistant coach but in Greg Popovich's and the San Antonio Spurs eyes it was one of the best decisions in NBA history. Greg Popovich stated "She's right in the middle and she knows how to do itand our players respond to her. She's just a natural. She talks the game and understands and for this reason I am happy with my decision. In my opinion I believe this topic was worthy of selecting as a research topic to make people understand that she knows what she's doing, that she also has the same mindset as a male assistant coach, and lastly see her talent to show what she is capable of doing.

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Was there anything that surprised Becky Hammon about being apart of the NBA world?

- “I’d always watched the NBA. I kind of watched it casually. You’re not at every practice, every game, every film session. It’s a lot. I don’t think people realize how many birthdays and Christmases these guys miss. There’s just so many things, where you never really thought about it in the eye of the storm, you see the sacrifices these guys make to essentially be entertainers.”

She was also surprised about how the Spurs treated her coming in. She stated "The Spurs also shocked me by not doubting that I will get the job done. They've been great. They treat me just like the other coaches. It’s a cool thing to be a part of. I think that’s how they looked at it, kind of history-making. But overall they had all watched me play. They had come to my games. They had been observing me as a player as well. Game recognizes game, you know? A lot of the NBA games, they watch the WNBA. They’re fans, and it’s the only basketball going on during the summer. They knew I had the experience. Plus, I’ve kind of walked in their shoes before. The WNBA isn’t 82 games, but it’s a similar schedule, the same kind of grind in that three-month period.”

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Why is it good that the NBA is allowing something new to take place?

A reporter from Nancy Armour stated:

-Most of the Spurs already knew and respected Hammon. She and Tony Parker have been friends for years, and the 16-year WNBA veteran is known for having a savant-like basketball IQ. Coach Gregg Popovich had become a fan, too, impressed not only with Hammon's game, but all her experiences outside basketball. Popovich may have a rep for being prickly, but he's also one of the smartest and most well-rounded coaches in the NBA, well versed in everything from politics to pinot noirs. When he and Hammon found themselves on the same flight home from the London Olympics, they spent the entire time talking about everything but basketball. From the time that he got off that trip, he really had an intrigue about Becky not only as a coach but just as a person," Spurs general manager R.C. Buford said. "If you've spent time studying or watching Pop, it's not about basketball, it's about people."

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How does the NBA players feel about Becky Hammon being chosen?

Jarell Eddie: Plays in D League

-"I am impressed by Hammon's ability to be intense without also acting like a screaming lunatic, which helps her command respect and get the most out of her players. Eddie also made it a point to say that Hammon being a woman doesn't change how the players view her as a coach."

Kobe Bryant

-"Becky had an amazing basketball career as a player, so there's no surprise that she would be an excellent coach."

Danny Green

-"She's smart, engaging, articulate, knowledgeable and genuine. She's magnetic. She isn't guided by ego or afraid to put in the work."

Tony Parker

-"She does have sort of a unique way about her. She just connects with you on a personal level when you talk to her. She has a genuine way that you feel comfortable when you're talking to her. It's not like there's an agenda. There's a genuine way about her. She's an honest communicator and is very observant. I had no doubt in my mind that she wouldn't be great for the position."

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Summer League

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This might be the NBA's Summer League but Becky Hammon has been beating the men here and beating them good. The San Antonio Spurs' experiment of having the NBA's first female assistant run team in the rookie league has turned into a clinic on what a woman can do if she is handed the same clipboard as a male coach.

On Sunday Hammon's Spurs won their fifth game in a row to advance to Monday's Summer League Final, meaning she is a victory away from a championship in her first attempt at coaching. In a month when a woman's team set the record for the largest television audience for an American soccer game, a woman can win an NBA league title. This has been an immense month for women's sports.

Hammon is not an imposing presence. She stands just 5ft 6in, with hoop earrings and a ponytail, burying herself in a sweatshirt jacket while the other coaches wear shorts and golf shirts. But this isn't about size or muscles spilling from form-fitting sleeves, but rather a matter of respect. The players Hammon is coaching this July loom like towers above her, yet they gather quietly around when she calls time outs the way they would Gregg Popovich or Doc Rivers.

"We don't look at it as female or anything, she's the coach and we just listen," Spurs forward Jarrell Eddie said Sunday afternoon.

She has had time to prepare for this moment. Popovich made her an assistant on the Spurs regular team before last season and she became a trusted mind on San Antonio's bench, working with the team's point guards, imploring them to get better. But there is a big difference between standing beside a hulking coach who looms with authority like Popovich and taking that chair yourself. "It's a big step, you're on the hot seat," Hammon said Sunday. Getting male basketball players to pay attention has long been a challenge for the best male coaches, let alone a female one in a league dominated by the opposite gender.

And yet Hammon stalked the coach's box at the Thomas & Mack Center as if this was a place she had always been, a place where she belonged. At times she barked at the referees. At others she shouted out to her own players. When one player on Sunday's opponents, the Atlanta Hawks, clearly travelled and the referee's whistle did not immediately blow, she leaped from her chair and demanded a call...which quickly came.

Hammon brings energy.

The summer league is a grind. San Antonio have played nine games in two weeks. NBA teams rarely play a schedule like that. By Sunday the Spurs players were tired. Their knees were sore from so much running. At the start of their semi-final game against the Hawks, they looked sluggish, lifeless. Hammon would not accept that.

"Bring the juice!" she shouted in the half-time locker room.

This is her favorite phrase: "Bring the juice." She says it often - in meetings, in practices and on the court during games. "Bring the juice." Don't slow down. Don't drag. Don't give up.

"She's intense, but she's not a screamer," Eddie said.

It's an important distinction. Professional basketball players do not listen to coaches who yell too much. The game is grueling enough. "The screamers" as many college coaches are called, do not last long in the NBA. Players tune out the relentless assaults jackhammered from the men in the suits. Hammon does not scream, but she demands energy, almost seeming to will it. Soon everyone is running hard.

On Sunday, the Spurs responded to Hammon's demand. They raced across the court, jumping at the Hawks shooters, challenging shots, batting away passes and tearing off on fast breaks. This is what Hammon hoped to see. She has preached to her team that defense often ignites a stagnant offense and suddenly the Spurs were experiencing exactly what she meant. She knew they were frustrated with missing three throws and easy shots. They could have said - as many basketball teams do - this wasn't their day and accepted a morning trip home.

But somehow the Spurs didn't on Sunday. They pushed. They played together. And this might have been the biggest tribute they could have made to their coach of just two weeks.

"That chemistry, you don't make it overnight. I think they have made tremendous strides from the beginning of summer league down to the end," Hammon said after the game. "We're starting to gel together at times, the majority of the times of the game - we still have our moments but we are coming together."

Such things don't often happen in the Summer League. Teams usually don't come together. Mostly they are groups of players thrown together for two weeks, hoping they hit enough shots to get noticed by a team in a foreign league who might pay them a living wage for the coming winter. That the Spurs are playing together is a direct result of Hammon.

"She does her job and she does it well," Eddie said.

How does a female coach establish herself? She makes the right decisions.

Everything in basketball is about adjustments. The best coaches are the ones who can change things when they don't work. Popovich is a master at adjustments. Players notice which coaches are the effective at switching plans. Those who make the best decisions are usually the ones who are most respected.

In two weeks Hammon has made dozens of adjustments. Once, in a game where the Spurs defense was having trouble with an opposing team's screens, she told the players to switch the way they were playing the screens. The next several possessions the opponent got nothing.

The value of a simple change in handling another team's screens is immense. When it works the coach gets immediate buy-in. If the Spurs weren't listening before, they were after that. And that made it easier for Hammon to make other adjustments - like moving small forward Kyle Anderson, last year's first round draft pick - to power forward. The benefit was immediate. On Sunday, Anderson was named the summer league's most valuable player.

"I mean I've learned a lot," Hammon said. "I wouldn't say there is any one thing. Your mind is just constantly moving, thinking of different scenarios, not only on your team but their team too, trying to figure out things they are doing. I learned it's a lot more challenging than being a player on multiple levels. That's an eye-opening thing for me."

She speaks fast in the manner of many basketball coaches, but her words have purpose. She was never taken seriously as a player until she got to the WNBA in the late 1990s and became a star simply by being the smartest point guard on the floor, the one who ran harder than everyone else. She can be no different in the NBA. She has to think. She has to push. She has to make the men believe. How can they not now that the Spurs are winning?

How does a female coach establish herself? She makes her players understand.

Most coaches do not take care to properly diagram a play. This might seem like a simple thing but it's a problem that few in the profession care to confront. They call a timeout, pull the team in a huddle and slash some lines with a pen across the small dry erase boards they clutch in their hands. The players nod their head as the coaches yell, look at the graffiti of scribbles on the board and start asking questions:

" What do I do here?
"Now where do I throw the ball?"
Hammon's lines are straight. They are neat. They don't zig and zag and head off the edge of the board into an abyss. When someone is supposed to run to the right, she draws a thick line going to the right. When someone is supposed to throw a pass, she adds a dotted line between the two X's.

Nobody asks what they are supposed to do.

Nobody asks where they throw the ball.

"She slows up and takes her time with the plays, it's easy to read," Eddie said.

If only the other coaches could do that. Maybe they'd be in the final.

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'She's the coach and we listen': Becky Hammon beats up the NBA Summer League

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This might be the NBA's Summer League but Becky Hammon has been beating the men here and beating them good. The San Antonio Spurs' experiment of having the NBA's first female assistant run team in the rookie league has turned into a clinic on what a woman can do if she is handed the same clipboard as a male coach.

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Input on Gregg Popovich's decision

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Spurs Assistant Coach

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Shalaina Sutton

Diversity in Sports

November 16, 2015

Women Have Talent Too

Becky Hammon

In todays society people still discriminate against others and put them in a category of stereotypes whether it’s the color of their skin, the way they dress, the way they talk, etc. On my padlet wall I will discuss how Becky Hammon, the first female assistant coach of the San Antonio Spurs was a victim of discrimination. I chose Becky Hammon as my topic because I also play basketball and I find it wrong that many people think that Ms. Hammon shouldn’t be a coach because people consider basketball as a male sport. Becky Hammon has been in the W.N.B.A. off-season for numerous of years. In the years she was drafted she had won an Olympic bronze medal in 2008 and was an undersized point guard that was ranked fourth in the W.N.B.A. in career assists. Becky Hammon was also ranked seventh in points score and in the year of 2011 was named one of the league’s 15 best players ever in history. With all the information provided how does Becky Hammon not have what it takes to be an assistant coach? Men and women are both born with talents so if they choose to take it to the next level and get somewhere they have to know what they’re doing to make it far. If basketball were just a male sport why would the W.N.B.A even exist? Becky Hammon was obviously chosen for a reason and is going to make a big change for the San Antonio Spurs.