In what many sports fans view as a historic move , the reigning NBA champion San Antonio Spurs announced the hiring of Becky Hammon as assistant coach . Terms of Hammon 's contract were not disclosed . `` I very much look forward to the addition of Becky Hammon to our staff , '' Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich said . `` Having observed her working with our team this past season , I 'm confident her basketball IQ , work ethic and interpersonal skills will be a great benefit to the Spurs . '' At her introductory press conference Tuesday afternoon , Hammon called the opportunity humbling . `` I 'm just incredibly grateful , obviously , to the Spurs organization and Coach Pop and ( Spurs General Manager R.C . Buford ) , '' Hammon said . `` The whole staff really just from day one has been so great to me . I 'm a little overwhelmed right now , to be perfectly honest . '' Hammon , a six-time WNBA All-Star , announced July 23 she will retire as a player at the end of this season . She has played the last eight seasons with the San Antonio Stars . Hammon is not the first woman in NBA history on an NBA coaching staff . Lisa Boyer , while working for the WNBA 's Cleveland Rockers as an assistant coach , also was on the Cleveland Cavaliers coaching staff under John Lucas in 2001-2002 . Boyer is now the associate head coach for the South Carolina women 's basketball team . Hammon alluded to the historical impact of her hiring , but she also tied in career fields other than basketball . `` There 's women that have trail-blazed much bigger paths and really trail-blazed the path for things like this to happen , '' Hammon said . `` There 's a lot more important things going on , in the bigger things , CEOs of companies . Women are really in every area . They 're in the surgery rooms . They 're doctors . They 're lawyers . They 're COOs . `` So even me sitting here today to be able to have the playing experience that I had as a professional basketball player , women went before me to pave that trail . So I 'm really just reaping benefits of all their hard work and labor . '' Popovich found out through San Antonio Stars head coach Dan Hughes that Hammon was interested in coaching . That led to Hammon spending time with Popovich and the rest of the Spurs team at practices , and a feature on `` NBA Inside Stuff . '' `` She 's right in the middle and she knows how to do it and her players really respond to her , '' Popovich said in the `` Inside Stuff '' feature . `` She 's just a natural . '' Spurs guard/forward Danny Green was complimentary as well . `` Everybody here respects her , '' Green said . `` She 's a really good player and also a good person to have around . She understands the game . '' In the feature , Popovich also said Hammon `` knows when to talk '' and `` when to shut up , '' saying that a lot of people do n't figure that out . `` She talks the game , she understands the game , '' Popovich said . `` So for all those reasons you really know she 's got that same sort of Avery Johnson , Steve Kerr , ( Mike ) Budenholzer type thing . '' Hammon acknowledged she will be in high-pressure situations . `` I 'm ready to be treated as just any other assistant coach , '' she said . Despite going undrafted in 1999 , Hammon was named one of the WNBA 's Top 15 Players of All Time in July 2011 . She 's seventh in league history in points with 5,809 , fourth in assists ( 1,687 ) and sixth in games ( 445 ) . Hammon has averaged 13.1 points per game in her career . Hammon , who grew up in Rapid City , South Dakota , spent her first eight WNBA seasons with the New York Liberty after signing as an undrafted free agent . On a draft-night deal in 2007 , she was traded to San Antonio . Hammon also was a three-time All-American at Colorado State . Hammon , one of many women 's players to also play professionally overseas during WNBA offseasons , became a naturalized Russian citizen in 2008 . That same year , when she was the runner-up in the WNBA MVP voting , Hammon created a stir when she decided to suit up for the Russian National Team in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing . She said she was feeling overlooked by USA Basketball for a spot on the U.S. national team but still wanted to fulfill her dream of playing in the Olympics . Hammon also played for the Russian team in the 2012 London Games . Clermont boss says female soccer coaches should be `` normal ''
Hammon , a six-time WNBA All-Star , announced July 23 she will retire as a player . Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich praises her coaching talent . Hammon is not the first woman in NBA history on an NBA coaching staff .