By Melissa Rohlin
FOX Sports NBA Writer
For years, the record books were waiting. Becky Hammon was going to be the first female head coach in NBA history.
But the years kept passing, and what once seemed like an inevitability began to appear as though it were nothing more than a mirage. Hammon spent eight years as an assistant coach for the San Antonio Spurs, but she never got the ultimate call-up.
Gregg Popovich, who had long claimed he’d retire when Tim Duncan called it quits, has remained at the helm long after his brightest star played his final game in 2016. Popovich has shepherded the team through the Kawhi Leonard and DeMar DeRozan eras, and the 72-year-old is still on the sideline today.
In the meantime, over the past two years, Hammon interviewed for head-coaching jobs with Milwaukee, Orlando and Portland, and she was a finalist for the Trail Blazers‘ job before they hired Chauncey Billups. But after a while, it became questionable whether she was viewed as a serious applicant by the teams or was interviewed as a public relations move.
Eventually, Hammon clearly got tired of waiting to shatter the glass ceiling. On Friday, she signed a five-year deal to become the head coach of the WNBA’s Las Vegas Aces.
“I am so excited to return to the WNBA and grateful for Mark Davis…
