Becky Hammon accomplished something pretty incredible last night as she became the first woman to be an acting head coach in NBA history. Hammon has been an assistant with the San Antonio Spurs for years now and after Gregg Popovich was ejected against the Los Angeles Lakers, Hammon was given the call to take over. It turned out to be a special moment for the league, and one that Hammon will most certainly never forget.
Following the special achievement, many players throughout the league were asked about Hammon, including Kyrie Irving who had quite a lot to say about it all. As he noted, he was happy to see Coach Pop get ejected and that he believes we live in a genderless society where gender-specific roles shouldn't exist.
“There shouldn’t be any role that is deemed for male or female. It should be open. And that should be the principal that we all live by. But there is still a fight. And I am grateful to be a part of history and Becky to make history and there is more history to be made for women and their empowerment in the work place, as well as respect across the world,” Kyrie explained. “You know, especially black native women–but all queens in general. So I was grateful to be a part of that.”
Moving forward, it remains to be seen whether or not Hammon will receive a full-time head coaching gig, although it's clear that she is well on her way to doing so.
