FILE - In this July 11, 2015 file photo, Becky Hammon coaches the San Antonio Spurs during an NBA summer league basketball game against the New York Knicks in Las Vegas. Hammon plans to interview for the Milwaukee Bucks' coaching job, a person familiar with the search told The Associated Press. The person requested anonymity because the team does not comment on potential candidates. A woman has never been a head coach in the NBA. Hammon is the first female assistant in the league. (AP Photo/Ronda Churchill, File)
Within a few years, women have made incredible strides in the NBA.
Becky Hammon was the first to break barriers when she was named an assistant coach for the San Antonio Spurs in 2014. Several others followed, with 3-time WNBA champion Sue Bird being the most recent to be named to a coaching position.
However, one question still looms - who will become the first woman to be named a head coach in the NBA?
NBA commissioner Adam Silver thinks it’ll happen sooner rather than later.
“We are very focused on a woman being a head coach in our league,” Silver said, noting Hammon, Bird and Kristi Toliver as potential candidates. “I am very confident it is going to happen at some point.”
Of the three women he listed, Hammon is the only one that has been interviewed for a head coaching role. Earlier this year, she was one of the final candidates during the Milwaukee Bucks’ coaching search. The position was ultimately filled by former Spurs assistant Mike Budenholzer, Hammon got the opportunity to move to the front of the Spurs’ bench this season. She also remains a top candidate for future openings around the league.
It seems as if it is a matter of “when” instead of “if” regarding a woman becoming a head coach in the NBA. The doors are being opened for women, and many are taking advantage to further the progress already made.