Becky Hammon reportedly is set to interview with a very fitting NBA team: the Portland Trail Blazers.
Fitting because Hammon has long been a trailblazer for women in sports as the first full-time female assistant coach in any of the four major North American professional sports.
An assistant coach with the San Antonio Spurs since 2014, Hammon now is looking to make more history as the first full-time female head coach in league history. Hammon reportedly will interview with both the Blazers and the Orlando Magic, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic.
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Hammon in December 2020 became the first woman to act as NBA head coach in a regular season game after Gregg Popovich was ejected against the Los Angeles Lakers.
Hammon was a six-time All-Star during her 16-year career in the WNBA with the New York Liberty and San Antonio Silver. After retiring, she joined Popovich's staff, becoming a pioneer for all sports. She interviewed for the Milwaukee Bucks' head coach position in 2018 before the team hired Mike Budenholzer.
The 44-year-old Hammon told NBC during an interview in April that she is ready to be an NBA head coach but isn't sure when the opportunity will come.
Golden State Warriors
"People don't like doing something new and different," Hammon said. "It's uncomfortable. It takes massive amount of risk. Somebody's going to have to take a chance ... In some ways I feel like it could be in a year. In other ways, it could be 10 years. I'm not really sure. What I'm sure of is, I'll be ready."
Dawn Staley, the longtime head coach of the South Carolina women's basketball team, is also among the candidates for the Blazers job, along with Los Angeles Clippers assistant Chauncey Billups and Brooklyn Nets assistant Mike D'Antoni.