Becky Hammon to be first female head coach in summer league

ByABC News
July 3, 2015, 2:21 PM

— -- Becky Hammon will coach San Antonio's summer league team in Las Vegas, the Spurs announced Friday.

She will be the first female head coach in summer league history. Natalie Nakase served as an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Clippers in 2014.

The San Antonio Express-News earlier reported that Hammon would coach the Vegas summer league team.

Hammon became the first female full-time assistant coach in NBA history when she joined the Spurs before the 2014-15 season. She played 16 seasons in the WNBA, making the All-Star team six times, and moved to the Spurs bench upon her retirement.

"Nothing in my life has really ever been easy. I've always been someone who did it uphill," Hammon said in August. "I'm up for challenges. I'm up for being outside the box, making tough decisions and challenges. ... And I'm a little bit of an adrenaline junkie. Throw those all in there and this was the perfect challenge and opportunity."

Now Hammon will be taking the next step in her coaching development.

The Las Vegas Summer League begins play July 10. The Spurs play their first game July 11 against the New York Knicks. San Antonio will play at least five games in Vegas.

San Antonio is also participating in the Salt Lake City Summer League. Will Hardy, the team's video coordinator, will coach the Spurs there.

Information from ESPN's Marc Stein and The Associated Press contributed to this report.