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When Las Vegas Aces coach Becky Hammon heard Friday that Gregg Popovich will no longer be head coach of the San Antonio Spurs, she immediately felt the emotions churning.

Makes sense since Hammon spent seven seasons (2014-21) on the bench with Popovich and eight overall with the team and became the first woman to coach in a regular-season game during that tenure when Popovich was ejected in the second quarter on Dec. 30, 2020, against the Los Angeles Lakers.

“My heart’s a little heavy for him because I know how much he loves it,” Hammon said prior to an exhibition game against the Dallas Wings on Friday night in South Bend, Ind.

Hammon, 48, has an 87-29 record and two titles in three seasons as a WNBA head coach.

Hammon sent a text message to the 76-year-old Popovich on Friday after hearing the news. Her bond with the winningest coach in NBA history has remained strong since she left to coach Las Vegas.

Popovich helped Hammon get the Aces’ job, and the move came at a time Hammon was wondering if she’d ever get the chance to be an NBA head coach.

“I’m super happy where I am,” Hammon said. “This opportunity for me, I couldn’t pass on it. … I bet on myself instead of maybe waiting it out for a maybe (in the NBA). I’ve enjoyed being back on the women’s side. You guys know I’m effusive about my love for this team and being back in the women’s game.”

Hammon’s coaching methods are deeply intertwined with the Popovich methodology. She surely couldn’t have found a better mentor.

The relationship blossomed while she was rehabbing a knee injury from her playing stint with the then-San Antonio WNBA franchise. Hammon worked the 2013-14 season as an unofficial member of the Spurs’ staff and was part of practices, film sessions and meetings.

“He’s literally, like, one of the greatest to do it,” Hammon said of Popovich, who spent 29 seasons with the Spurs and won five NBA titles.

“He always got the absolute most out of his roster. Turns out he had some pretty good players. He will always be the most competitive person in the building, whatever building he’s in.”

Popovich will serve as president of the Spurs after missing the final 64 games of last season after having a mild stroke on Nov. 2.

The Spurs named assistant Mitch Johnson as the new head coach after he filled in for Popovich last season.

Hammon, who was head coach of the Spurs’ 2015 summer league championship team, was a candidate for the Portland Trail Blazers’ coaching job in 2021 before that franchise hired Chauncey Billups. She said she hasn’t closed the door on a return to the NBA someday.

“If I were to ever make that jump again, you know it just has to be the right fit, right time, in front of the right people, with the right team,” Hammon said.

Hammon was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2023 due to her contributions as both a player and coach. She was lightly recruited out of high school in South Dakota only to become a First-Team All-American at Colorado State and six-time All-Star as a WNBA player in addition to her coaching accomplishments.

–Field Level Media