Hammon almost missed a chance to make All-Star history if not for Pop
San Antonio's Becky Hammon will make history as the first female assistant coach in the All-Star Game. But her accomplishment almost never occurred, until she intervened.
Becky Hammon on being first female NBA All-Star assistant coach: 'Life just has a funny way of just getting better' https://t.co/ltg6shHOrm
— For The Win (@ForTheWin) February 11, 2016
Hammon told For The Win that when Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich was asked to coach the Western Conference All-Star team, he initially had no interest. If Popovich declined, the NBA would have found a new coach for the West and that coach would have selected the assistants for the game instead.
Hammon and others on San Antonio's coaching staff, however, stepped in to try and convince Popovich to accept the honor.
“A couple of other staff members (and I) wanted to do it of course because it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for us and eventually he gave in and did the league wishes (and agreed) to coach. I think he was trying to make other plans so there was a little mini-coup in the staff of assistants that wanted to go to Toronto and then of course he wanted to go and do whatever he does."
According to Hammon, Popovich prefers to use his breaks from basketball for reading -- and avoiding the game entirely. But Popovich was convinced and Hammon will, in fact, become the NBA's first woman to be an assistant coach during an All-Star Game.
The former WNBA All-Star was hired as the league's first female assistant before the 2014-15 season. She was the team's Summer League coach before this season; her team won the league title.
Bryan Kalbrosky produces digital content for FOX Sports. For more, follow him on Twitter @BryanKalbrosky
