5 Women Who Could Coach In The NBA

August 6, 2014 - 8:26 pm by Terrence Watson

The San Antonio Spurs made history yesterday by officially hiring Becky Hammon as the NBA’s first female full-time assistant coach. Hammon, a six time WNBA all-star who was also voted as one the league’s Top 15 Players of All Time, is surely qualified. She proved as much after her internship with the Spurs organization, leading to San Antonio’s head coach Gregg Popovich offering her a position with the team. Hopefully Hammon gets to move up in the ranks, but there are other female players could coach in the NBA if given the chance to follow down the trial she’s blazing.

Want to know just who those women are? Take a look at our list by clicking the arrows above.

Cheryl Miller You may know Cheryl Miller as the sideline reporter for NBA on TNT, but before she was explaining the haps on the court, she was going to work on it. Put it this way, her younger brother Reggie Miller is an all-time NBA great and sure fire Hall of Famer — and he always says she was better than him. In fact, she taught him how to play. Which makes sense seeing as how she won Olympic gold, two NCAA titles, scored over 3,000 points in both high school and college and was Naismith College Player of the Year three times. NBA players know all about “Reggie’s older sister” and she’s long had the respect of great players like Kobe Bryant, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett. No doubt she could teach the next generation a few things about the game.

Teresa Weatherspoon Teresa Weatherspoon was one of the best point guards on the planet back in her day, male or female. She’s second all-time in the WNBA in assists, led the New York Liberty to WNBA Finals four times (including the first ever, where she hit one of the most memorable shots in league history) and was known for being a fiery competitor. Not only that, but Becky Hammon was her understudy while the two played in New York. The 48-year-old recently coached at her alma mater Louisiana Tech, so sideline experience is something she already possess. Maybe Phil Jackson should give her a shot with the Knicks. She’s already a fan favorite in NYC and the Knicks need a lot of help. She’s the woman for the job.

Pat Summitt From the 1980‘s through to recent times, the Tennessee Lady Vols college basketball dynasty won eight NCAA titles and 16 SEC Championships. The players had something to do with that, no doubt, but that’s largely because head coach Pat Summitt was just an all time great. In 2000, Summitt was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. With a career record of 1,098 wins and 208 losses over a nearly 40 year span, Summitt’s the NCAA all-time leader in wins (for men or women). She knows enough basketball to coach on any level, something the University of Tennessee realized when they asked her to coach the men’s team twice (once in the 19997 and again in 2001). Unfortunately, the 62-year-old developed early signs of Alzheimer’s and had to retire from the game in 2012.

Sue Bird What is it with ball players and the last name Bird? Sue, a New York native, was a star high school and college guard before being the first overall pick of the Seattle Storm in 2002. Since then, she’s been one of the WNBA’s favorite faces of the league. She’s an eight time WNBA All-Star and one of only nine women to have won an Olympic Gold Medal, an NCAA title and a WNBA championship. Currently, Bird’s the second on the all-time WNBA assist list. There’s little doubt she could assist a team on the sideline in the NBA once her playing days are done.

Diana Turasi When Kobe Bryant says you’re a “Mamba,” you must be the truth. The Black Mamba bestowed that honor on Turasi during an interview for SLAM magazine and with good reason. The Phoenix Mercury star will most likely be the WNBA’s all-time leading scorer when she’s done playing and is arguably already the greatest player in the league history. If Bryant acknowledges how good she is, other’s in the NBA would respect her input on the sideline too.

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