LAS VEGAS, NV — The WNBA announced on Friday morning that first year Las Vegas Aces head coach Becky Hammon received the league’s Coach Of The Year honors. Hammon earned 27 of 56 votes from a panel of sports media reporters. Hammon becomes the third former WNBA player to win the award, joining Sandy Brondello (2014) and Suzie McConnell-Serio (2004). She is the first former player to earn the honor in her debut season as a WNBA head coach and the only one to win the award while coaching the franchise for which she previously played.
“Obviously a big honor, a humbling honor (with) a lot of work and great girls to work with… great ladies to work with,” Hammon said smiling regarding receiving the Coach Of The Year honor. “They make me look good, so I share this with a lot of different people and definitely humbling.”
Along with her incredible coaching staff, she guided the Aces to a 26-10 regular season record, the second highest winning percentage ever for a rookie head coach, allowing them to conquer the number overall seed in the playoffs. Hammon has instilled that ‘dog mentality’ into each of her players this season which came to fruition on the court. The unique ability to not only understand and coach the game of basketball, but have the ability to manage each player’s personalities.
“We have a coach that’s a dog too you know, she was an underdog, but she came in and did she what she had to do and now she’s the head coach and she’s put her team into a championship run,” rookie Kierstan Bell said about Hammon.
“Becky invited me to San Antonio and we had dinner, and we just sat and talked not just about the game but as people in general,” said A’ja Wilson about Hammon understanding her as a player on the team. “It’s no gray when it comes to Becky, it’s black and white and she let me know straight up I’ll be playing the five (center position), defense is going to be different and we’re about to have some spacing.”
Her ability to effectively communicate with her team as well as individual players has been nothing less than stellar which is one of the reasons for this team’s success thus far.
Hammon has achieved some major goals this season, as she coached Team Wilson to a victory in the All-Star Game, and managed to win the league’s second annual Commissioners Cup in an 93-83 victory over the defending champion Chicago Sky on the road. The Aces opened the season with a 9-1 record under her new style of play, though the team met with some bumps and bruises throughout the course of the year, including some key injuries to Jackie Young and Dearica Hamby. Hammon remained focused and locked her players into sticking to their core principals. Learning valuable lessons while coaching under San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich allowed her to guide her team during the moments before the All-Star break where they lost five out of seven games.
Text messages were exchanged throughout the season between Popovich and Hammon where she eventually had a “Come to Jesus” type of team meeting that enhanced the team’s bond. Being a teacher of the game and allowing her players to understand different terminology in order to have an advantage on their various opponents, propelled them back into the number one seed overall for the playoffs.
The players have truly taken on the personality of their coach, and while the individual accolades are nice, they desire to be the last team standing when it’s all said and done, hoisting up that WNBA championship trophy.
The Aces host Game One on Sunday at Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas at 1PM PST on ABC.
