Las Vegas Aces head coach Becky Hammon led the team to their third WNBA championship in four years with a four-game sweep over the Phoenix Mercury that was cemented on Friday night.
“THAT’S THREE OF A KIND FOR THE LAS VEGAS ACES! WNBA CHAMPIONS FOR THE THIRD TIME IN FOUR YEARS! A DYNASTY DECLARED!”
Ryan Ruocco with the call for ESPN. 🏀🏆🎙️ #WNBAFinals #WNBA pic.twitter.com/zAd9VNeeWP
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) October 11, 2025
Hammon was a six-time All-Star as a player in the WNBA after being a three-time All-American in college basketball at Colorado State.
Along with starring as a head coach in the WNBA, Hammon was a key assistant for head coach Gregg Popovich in the NBA with the San Antonio Spurs. In 2015, she served as the Spurs’ Summer League head coach and led them to a title. And when Popovich was ejected from the second quarter of a Spurs game on December 30, 2020, Hammon became the first female acting head coach in NBA history.
Hammon has had interviews with NBA organizations for head-coaching jobs, but it’s never materialized in landing a job.
If it were up to ESPN voice Stephen A. Smith, Hammon would be an NBA head coach.
Smith made that clear on his podcast, The Stephen A. Smith Show, and posted a video clip of his explanation Saturday on X.
If I were a NBA owner, I’d hire Becky Hammon as head coach pic.twitter.com/uPVxLlB3Wa
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) October 11, 2025
“She deserves to coach in the NBA,” Smith said.
“If I owned an NBA team, I would not mind giving her a chance as the head coach of my franchise,” Smith continued. “That woman knows what she’s doing.”
“But, I’m just talking about Becky Hammon doing what she did in the NBA as an assistant coach, and coaching the Summer League team for the men to a title before she took the Las Vegas Aces’ job,” Smith said. “She has been a staple in basketball, period.”
“I believe men should not be allowed to be head coaches in the WNBA, because you don’t see women coaching in the NBA, at the head-coaching level,” Smith added. “If you’re going to do that to the women, having a man coach the WNBA team, then a woman should be allowed to be the head coach of an NBA team. That’s what I believe.”
Smith is definitely not alone in believing that Hammon deserves a shot at being an NBA head coach, if it’s something she wants. Popovich and many other respected voices in the NBA world have been vocal about Hammon being an excellent head-coaching candidate. She’s certainly made her coaching abilities clear in the WNBA.