Gresh & Zo: Spurs Hire Becky Hammon As Assistant Coach
BOSTON (CBS) - The defending NBA Champion San Antonio Spurs made a very bold move earlier this week by hiring the second ever female assistant coach, Becky Hammon. She joins the Spurs after her completion of a fantastic career in the WNBA.
Becky Hammon suited up for the New York Liberty and the San Antonio Stars during her playing days in the WNBA, and is the second female that has been hired as an assistant coach in the NBA, however she is the first to be hired full-time with full-pay.
Gresh and Flynn discussed the new hiring that the Spurs just made on Wednesday's show.
"Look at the background of a lot guys who make it in the NBA," said Gresh. "Look at some of the backgrounds of some of these kids and some of the people who were and weren't figures in their life. How many of them are really evolved socially, to where they are going to embrace the situation? A lot of it depends on the background of the player to have an open enough mind to listen to someone they are not used to seeing on an NBA sideline."
The guys talked a lot about the players, and if they would respect the fact that they have a female coach and her abilities to coach the sport.
"Fighting over a screen, how to play off the screen, the pick and roll," said Flynn. "Basketball is basketball. Accepting that and respecting that? That's the difference. It has nothing to do with the person's knowledge, or how it translates from the WNBA to the NBA. It's the same game and you are running the same plays."
The San Antonio Spurs are being widely praised for the decision in hiring Becky Hammon. She is a great basketball mind and should be able to help the team greatly.
Let's just hope the Spurs players respect her as much as we respect the decision of the Spurs to hire her.
Listen below:
Spurs Hire Becky Hammon As Assistant Coach
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