Borrowing from Gregg Popovich’s coaching manual, Becky Hammon thriving with Aces
LAS VEGAS — Kelsey Plum couldn’t buy a basket shooting from 3-point range at a recent game, so the Las Vegas Aces guard decided to focus instead on distributing the ball.“Shoot the ball,” she screamed at the five-year WNBA veteran.“I hit two or three in a row, and I looked at her and said, ‘You like that ?’” Plum said. “That’s the kind of relationship we have. We are both fiery.”
“When you come from the Spurs, you are coming from a well-oiled machine,” Hammon said. “Here we are literally building the machine.” Davis, who also owns the Las Vegas Raiders, bought the Aces from MGM Resorts International in 2021. The Aces moved to Las Vegas from San Antonio in 2017 after Spurs Sports & Entertainment sold them to MGM.
“We run some different stuff, but I always felt like our defensive philosophies in San Antonio were just solid,” she said.Regarding the freedom she gives point guard Chelsea Gray, Hammon said, “I joke around that I am her assistant coach and she’s the head coach.” “They come up organically,” Plum said of those intimate talks. “They come up in airports, in practices. Nothing is ever forced with her. She has a great feel for people and is super positive. As a player, when you feel empowered, you are going to give the best version of yourself, and Becky has just been tremendous in just letting me be myself.”“She cares about you as a person, and when we talk, it’s not always about just the game,” Plum said. “It can be about life, spiritually, family.
Jeremiah Norman, a Las Vegas elementary school teacher, attended the game with his daughter Kennedy, 11. He said he loves that Hammon is somebody young women like Kennedy can emulate.Kennedy said it’s “really cool” having Hammon lead the Aces.