Jessica Hill/AP
Las Vegas Aces head coach Becky Hammon reacts during the first half in Game 4 of a WNBA basketball final playoff series against the Connecticut Sun, Sunday, Sept. 18, 2022, in Uncasville, Conn.
Published Saturday, April 1, 2023 | 9:47 a.m.
Updated Saturday, April 1, 2023 | 4:48 p.m.
The year of accolades continues for Becky Hammon.
The Las Vegas Aces coach is among a group who will be enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame’s 2023 class, it was announced Saturday. She will be enshrined on Aug. 12 in Springfield, Mass.
Hammon was a six-time WNBA All-Star after going undrafted following a four-year career at Colorado State. She was named as one of the WNBA’s 25 greatest players by the league in September 2021.
Hammon’s WNBA career spanned 16 seasons with the San Antonio Silver Stars and New York Liberty, averaging 13 points and 3.8 assists per game, and was one of the best 3-point shooters in league history. She’s fourth on the league’s all-time list with 829 3-pointers made.
Hammon, who was the first female coach of an NBA team as an assistant with the San Antonio Spurs before joining the Aces, will be going in the hall with legendary Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, the league’s all-time leader in wins. Longtime San Antonio point guard Tony Parker, a four-time NBA champion, is also headed to the hall.
Joining the Spurs’ contingent are Dallas Mavericks legend Dirk Nowitzki, three-time NBA champion Dwyane Wade, and Pau Gasol, a two-time NBA champion with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Hammon coached the Aces to their first WNBA championship last season and was the league’s coach of the year, as Las Vegas went a league-best 26-10.
Also getting the Hall’s call: the 1976 U.S. Olympic women’s basketball team; former Purdue coach Gene Keady, a seven-time Big Ten coach of the year; former Texas A&M women’s coach Gary Blair, who took two teams to the Final Four; longtime coach at Division III Amherst and two-time national champion David Hixon; and Gene Bess, who won 1,300 games as a junior college coach at Three Rivers Community College in Poplar Bluff, Mo.
The late Jim Valvano, who as a coach led North Carolina State to the 1983 NCAA title, was selected as a contributor, also taking into account his work as a broadcaster and an outspoken advocate for cancer research and the V Foundation.
The Associated Press contributed.
Danny Webster can be reached at 702-259-8814 or [email protected]. Follow Danny on Twitter at twitter.com/DannyWebster21.
