Spurs center Pau Gasol thinks it’s obvious that Becky Hammon should be an NBA head coach.
Hammon, who has been an assistant with the Spurs since 2014, reportedly was to interview this week for the Bucks head coaching vacancy. Gasol, a two-time NBA champion, addressed the possibility of Hammon leading an NBA franchise in a Players' Tribune essay published Friday.
“Becky Hammon can coach,” Gasol wrote. “I’m not saying she can coach pretty well. I’m not saying she can coach enough to get by. I’m not saying she can coach almost at the level of the NBA’s male coaches. I’m saying: Becky Hammon can coach NBA basketball. Period.”
Hammon played 16 seasons in the WNBA and was an All-Star six times. Gasol said Hammon has a deep understanding of the game. He mentioned a practice this year in which she corrected a flaw in a standard pick-and-roll drill he was running with point guard Dejounte Murray.
“She noticed a small detail out of the corner of her eye — and then instantly located both the problem and the solution,” Gasol wrote. “And not only that, but we were also able to communicate with each other in such a way that we got the result that we needed … I don’t think I caught another stray pass the rest of the season.”
Gasol, who has been coached by both Phil Jackson and Gregg Popovich in his 17-year career, said that he believes the NBA is a forward-thinking league, but there’s still “a ways to go.”
“What I would say to my NBA family right now, I think, is, Hey — let’s all keep up the great work,” Gasol wrote. “Let’s be proud … But let’s also not be satisfied.”
