SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Las Vegas Aces coach Becky Hammon, a former San Antonio Spurs assistant under Gregg Popovich, said she's happy with her current role while not ruling out a future move back to the NBA.
The Spurs announced Friday that Popovich will no longer be head coach and is transitioning into the full-time role as the team's president of basketball operations. Mitch Johnson now takes over at the Spurs' helm.
Hammon, who coached the Aces in their first preseason game Friday night against Dallas at Notre Dame's Purcell Pavilion, was an assistant under Popovich from 2014 to 2021 and became the first woman to serve as an acting head coach in the NBA after Popovich was ejected from a 2020 game.
Despite her previous ties to the Spurs organization, Hammon is quite content in the WNBA.
"I'm super happy where I am," Hammon said. "This opportunity for me, I couldn't pass on it. ... I bet on myself instead of, maybe waiting it out for a maybe [in the NBA]. I've enjoyed being back on the women's side. You guys know I'm effusive about my love for this team and being back in the women's game."
Hammon, 48, had a long professional playing career in several leagues but began coaching in the NBA before joining the Aces in late 2021. She became the first rookie coach to guide her team to a WNBA championship and won another title in 2022. Hammon was a candidate for the Portland Trail Blazers coaching vacancy in 2021. She also was the first woman to serve as head coach for an NBA Summer League team.
Hammon is 87-29 in three seasons with the Aces.
"If I were to ever make that jump again, you know it just has to be the right fit, right time, in front of the right people, with the right team," Hammon said.
Hammon credited Popovich for being "a huge reason" why she's a head coach and texted him Friday after hearing the news.
"That's who mentored me, that's who spent literally thousands of hours with me," she said. "Watching him, I was there eight years. It's a lot of games, it's a lot of practices, it's a lot of coaches meetings. So yeah, my heart's a little heavy for him, because I know how much he loves it, but I'm sure he'll crush this role just as much."
