Welcome to the NBA Hangover. We jot down NBA stuff mostly from last night that we want to talk about. Check it out.
Becky Hammon urged Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich to challenge a call in a crucial moment of their game against the Miami Heat.
Becky Hammon is a trail blazer.
Not the Portland type. But she’s done so much for the game of basketball. And she has helped open the door for women in the game.
It’s kind of amazing how she went undrafted in the WNBA. She caught on with the New York Liberty in 1999. Hammon went from backing up Teresa Weatherspoon to starting point guard for the New York Liberty after showing her offensive prowess. Then after getting traded to the San Antonio Silver Stars, she even did better as she helped the Silver Stars get to the WNBA Finals in 2008. Becky would average a career-best 19.5 points per game in 2009. She would end up putting together a 16-year WNBA career; not bad for someone who was undrafted. Hammon is 12th in the all-time WNBA scoring list at 5,841 points and 5th in career assists at 1,708.
In 2013, while recovering from an ACL injury, she was at San Antonio Spurs practices and games to help out the team; Hammon wanted to coach after her playing career was over. In the summer of 2014, she was hired as a Spurs assistant coach (the second woman in NBA history; Lisa Boyer was an assistant coach for the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2001-02).
She’s done quite a bit since then. Hammon led the Spurs’ Summer League team to a Summer League championship in 2015 (while also being the first woman to be a head coach in Summer League). She was the first woman to be part of a coaching staff in the NBA All-Star game in 2016. The Milwaukee Bucks interviewed her for a head coaching job in 2018 as well.
But as of now, she’s still an assistant coach for the Spurs. And she helped out Popovich in a big way on Sunday afternoon.
With 1:28 left in their game against the Miami Heat, Jimmy Butler made a three-point play that would cut their deficit to a precarious two points. Becky urged Gregg Popovich to challenge the call:
Becky Hammon convinced Pop to challenge Jimmy Butler’s and-1 continuation.
The Spurs won the challenge and the game. 🙌 pic.twitter.com/YxqQbP4vzY
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) January 20, 2020
The call was overturned. Butler would still score in the same possession with two free throws but every point and momentum flow is important in basketball. The Spurs would hold on to win the game.
Selfishly, I want Becky Hammon to succeed Popovich as Spurs head coach. But I would just want Becky to be an NBA head coach. People in basketball circles know she’s very capable but a lot of people would make unfunny kitchen jokes about her. Her becoming a head coach would show other girls and women that they can achieve whatever they aspire to be. We still have a very long way to go where something like Becky becoming an NBA head coach is normal. But this would be a fantastic step towards that.
We’ll be cheering for Becky Hammon to get that head coaching gig. Just like we cheered for her when she was playing for the WNBA.
Bullet Passes
Domantas Sabonis had his first NBA career triple-double (22-15-10) as the Pacers won in Denver. That’s one more than his legendary father, Arvydas Sabonis (surprisingly, he never got a triple-double in the NBA). TAKE THAT, DAD.
The Heat have slowed down a bit as they are 5-5 in their last 10 games. Their defense in that span of time hasn’t been exactly great (113.1 points allowed per 100 possessions). And all of those losses were to sub-.500 teams (even if they were all on the road). Be careful there, Heat.
There were only two games in the NBA on Sunday as 28 teams will play on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. It’s exhausting to think about what this country has become due to this awful awful regime. But of course, we’re not giving up on the dream Dr. King had.
If things didn’t change a long time ago, we still wouldn’t have African-Americans playing in a sport like the NBA. Hell, we wouldn’t have different backgrounds and races watching basketball together if nothing changed.
So it’s a celebration on Monday on what Dr. King has done for us. Obviously, I’m not blind about what’s going on right now and my eyes continue to get more open as I learn about the things black people (and other minorities) go through. But Dr. King will continue to inspire us to do what’s right. And we will never ever give up on the dream.
The Scoreboard
MIA 102 (29-13) @ SA 107 (18-23)
IND 115 (28-15) @ DEN 107 (29-13)
Watch This Play
Derrick Jones, Jr. moves Jakon Poeltl out of the way with this follow jam.
(VIDEO CREDIT: NBA BandWagon Fan.)
I know I’ve been telling everyone to join the dunk contest but… he should join the dunk contest.
Rey-Rey is on Twitter at @TheNoLookPass.
TNLP on FaceBook.