The opportunity to demonstrate her success as a head coach was one of the factors that led Becky Hammon to leave the bench she shared with Gregg Popovich in San Antonio and join the WNBA.
It appears that she was correct so far.
Hammon was voted WNBA Coach of the Year on Friday to guide the Las Vegas Aces to the best record in the league this season and the top playoff spot.
56 national WNBA writers and broadcasters cast 27 ballots for Hammon. Vickie Johnson of the Dallas Wings, Vanessa Nygaard of the Phoenix Mercury, and Mike Thibault of the Washington Mystics received one vote. At the same time, Tanisha Wright of the Atlanta Dream finished in second place with 18 votes, James Wade of the Chicago Sky was third with eight votes, and Mike Thibault of the Chicago Sky was fourth with 1.
In their 106-88 victory over the Mercury, Ace's offense under Hammon surpassed the WNBA record for most points scored by a club in a season-opening. This season, the Aces scored a WNBA-best average of 90.4 points per game. Getting consistent buy-in and the defensive effort was difficult, but as the season went on and it came down to major games, like the Commissioner's Cup Final versus the reigning champion Sky, the Aces' defense came through well.
A'ja Wilson, an MVP candidate, along with All-Stars Kelsey Plum, Jackie Young, and Dearica Hamby, comprised one of the WNBA's more talented teams when Hammon took over. Still, under the previous coach Bill Laimbeer, that club had not performed to its full potential. Being a coach can be a difficult situation to enter.
But Hammon demonstrated that she was prepared for the situation and the task.
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