Becky Hammon Turns Down Florida Coaching Job

MARCH 27: Hammon has turned down Florida’s offer and will remain with the Spurs, sources tell Mike Robinson of Swish Appeal.

MARCH 24: Spurs assistant coach and WNBA legend Becky Hammon is considering a lucrative offer to coach women’s basketball at the University of Florida, according to a report from Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical. Per Wojnarowski, Hammon’s offer would be a considerable raise from her current salary with the Spurs.

Currently in her third year as an assistant coach, Hammon aspires to be the NBA’s first female head coach; a factor which makes the Gators’ offer a dilemma.

Hammon’s 16-year WNBA career reached a conclusion after the 2014 season. David Lee, a member of the Spurs who attended University of Florida, vouched for Hammon as a potential boon for the program.

“If anybody’s going to do it, it would be her,” Lee told ESPN“Knowing the makeup of the campus and how the women’s basketball is there, she’d be a great fit.”

Likely further complicating Hammon’s decision is her close relationship with Gregg Popovich. Hammon has spoken highly of the three-time Coach of the Year, crediting him with her opportunity to coach in the NBA.

“I’m not here unless Coach Pop kind of sees me genderless — he sees me as a person that knows basketball,” Hammon said on the NBA’s YouTube channel. “He didn’t care that I was a woman. What he cared about was, can I help the team and will I do a good job. Pop leaned in for me, big time. You know, I might have been the tool, but Pop, he thrust me through that ceiling. The fact that he invited me into their inner-circle was a huge vote of confidence, and I do believe leadership knows no gender.”

View Comments (10)