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" Today, the San Antonio Spurs announced that Becky Hammon has been hired as an assistant coach. Hammond is the second female coach in NBA history, which makes this hire a pretty big deal. Hammon, who retires from the WNBA this year after 16 seasons, the last eight of which she spent with the San Antonio Stars, is a six-time WNBA All-Star and ranks seventh in WNBA history in points and fourth in assists. &#147;I very much look forward to the addition of Becky Hammon to our staff,&#148; said Spurs Head Coach Gregg Popovich, according to NBA.com. &#147;Having observed her working with our team this past season, I&amp;#039;m confident her basketball IQ, work ethic and interpersonal skills will be a great benefit to the Spurs.&#148;  When asked, this past May, whether women could coach men, Popovitch told ESPN, &amp;quot;I don&amp;#039;t see why not. There shouldn&amp;#039;t be any limitations. It&amp;#039;s about talent and the ability to do things. It&amp;#039;s not about what your sex is or your race or anything else.&amp;quot; Finding a female coach in a professional league&#151;let alone a male league&#151;is hard to do: Andy Murray made headlines earlier this year when he hired Am\u00E9lie Mauresmo in advance of Wimbledon and French soccer team Clermont Foot caused buzz when they named Helena Costa France&amp;#039;s first-ever professional female football coach for a male team. Lisa Boyer was the first female coach in the NBA, serving as an assistant coach for the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2001\u20132002 season. Hammon will likely faces many challenges as she continues to break ground for females in the NBA, but no doubt she&amp;#039;s ready to take them on. She told ESPN in May, &amp;quot;I do think it&amp;#039;s time that some of those barriers do come down ... I think it&amp;#039;s silly on a certain level. If you know and understand basketball, you know and understand basketball, period.&amp;quot; "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.cosmopolitan.com/entertainment/news/a29777/becky-hammon-spurs-female-coach/>