NBA Summer League News: Becky Hammon Earns First Head Coach Victory As San Antonio Spurs Defeat Milwaukee Bucks
San Antonio Spurs assistant coach Becky Hammon earned her first career coaching victory as the Spurs cruised past the Milwaukee Bucks 89-74 in Las Vegas on Sunday night.
The Spurs 2014 first round draft pick, Kyle Anderson, scored a game-high 22 points to lead the Spurs (1-1). He shot 5-of-12 from the field and was 10-of-11 from the free throw line. Anderson, who split time between the Spurs and the D-League last season, added five rebounds along with two assists in 22 minutes of action.
Jarrell Eddie had 15 points while Jonathan Simmons contributed 13 points, six assists and four rebounds for San Antonio.
Milwaukee (0-2) received 11 points from a bunch of players, including 2015 first round selection Rashad Vaughn. Vaughn finished with 11 points, four assists, and four rebounds in 31 minutes as he was just 4-of-16 from the floor. Jorge Gutierrez, Sean Kilpatrick, and Cameron Clark also had 11 points for the Bucks.
Hammon, a former WNBA Star, is the first woman to serve as head coach of a NBA summer league team in the league according to the New York Daily News.
“To me, it’s always about bigger picture,” Hammon told reporters following the Spurs 78-73 loss to the New York Knicks in Hammon’s coaching debut on Saturday. “And we want to make sure that when your wife or your daughter goes for a job interview she gets the same opportunity that a guy gets. That’s the bigger picture. That’s the bigger goal. Whether it’s basketball or the Army or CEOs or in operating rooms, we want women there.”
Hammon joined Gregg Propovich’s staff as a full-time assistant this year, following a very successful 16-year WNBA career with the New York Liberty and San Antonio Stars. The six-time WNBA All-Star averaged 13.0 points, 3.8 assists and 2.5 rebounds during her career. She ranks No. 7 in WNBA history in points (with 5,809), No. 4 in assists (1,687) and No. 6 in games (445).
Hammon is not the first woman to coach men professionally. Hall-of-Famer Nancy Leiberman coached the Dallas Mavericks’ D-League affiliate, Texas Legends, from 2009-to-2011 and former WNBA first round draft pick Lindsey Harding is currently serving as a guest on the Toronto Raptors Las Vegas summer league squad. Lieberman is on the Sacramento Kings’ Las Vegas summer league staff this year.
Other Las Vegas summer league scores from Sunday:
D-League Select 94, Washington Wizards 74
Scotty Hopkins continues to impress for the D-League Select (1-1) as he scored a team-high 20 points, on 7-of-10 shooting. Hopkins, who has two career NBA appearances, dropped 27 points against the Houston Rockets in the D-League Select’s opening game loss.
Jarrid Famous led Washington with 21 points and 10 rebounds along with three assists, while Wizards’ rookie Kelly Oubre finished with 18 points and eight rebounds. Oubre was just 5-of-17 from the field.
Houston Rockets 108, Phoenix Suns 89
The Rockets (2-0) got off to a fast start, jumping out to a 13-0 lead in the first 121 seconds before increasing the lead to 17 before the midway point in the first half. Houston made three-of-their-first-four shots and added five points from the charity stripe during the opening 13-0 run. Glen Rice was responsible for four of the points, while D.J. Kennedy, and Will Cummings chipped in four apiece. Kennedy led six Rockets in double figures with 21 points.
T.J. Warren paced the Suns with a game-high 22 points.
Toronto Raptors 81, Chicago Bulls 66
Denver Nuggets 89, Sacramento Kings 76
Atlanta Hawks 71, Golden State Warriors 70
[photo by Scott Halleran/Getty Images]
