On the last day of 2021, the Spurs' coaching team was dug into the wall again, and unlike in the past, this time it was a woman who was poached.
According to Shams, Spurs female assistant coach Becky Harmon is about to join the WNBA Las Vegas ace team as the team's head coach, and the two sides will sign a large contract for a period of 5 years, and the contract amount will create WNBA history.
Spurs fans and even NBA fans who often watch the NBA will not be unfamiliar with this female assistant coach, you can often see her communicate with Popovich in the scene, and she has also served as the head coach of the Spurs Summer League before, which is remarkable.
Harmon was previously a star player in the WNBA, playing 16 seasons in his career, the first eight seasons with the New York Free Team, the last eight seasons with the Silver Star in San Antonio, and 6 seasons in the WNBA All-Star Team.
Harmon entered the all-time top ten in total points and the top five total assists in the WNBA, and was named a superstar in the WNBA's all-time top fifteen. In the previously announced 2022 Hall of Fame candidate list, Becky Harmon's name is also among them.
After retiring in 2014, Harmon joined the Spurs coaching staff. In 2015, she led the Spurs to a summer league title, proving her ability in a good reversal.
For a long time, Harmon has been cultivated as Popovich's successor, and after Popovich voluntarily applied for two technical fouls to leave the field, it was Harmon who was strategizing on the sidelines, and in the hearts of the players, she was no different from the head coach.
Mills once said of Harmon: "There is no difference between Harmon and Bobo's suspension, she will also reprimand us." In 2016, she became the first female teaching assistant in All-Star history; in 2017, Harmon was officially inducted into the San Antonio Sports Hall of Fame.
It was also in the same year that the University of Florida offered her a very high salary contract. But Harmon decided to stay in the NBA after several considerations, because it has always been her dream to be a head coach in the NBA.
As the leader of the Spurs coaching department, Harmon has naturally participated in the head coaching interviews of many teams, previously the Knicks and Pacers, and participated in the Magic and Trail Blazers head coach interviews last offseason, but ultimately missed out.
Harmon is well prepared to be the first female head coach in the big four leagues, but she always passes by opportunities. Or if Harmon had been a man, she would have already taken a place in this hormone-busting league.
This summer, he and Billups reached the finals of the Trail Blazers coaching contest, but the Blazers chose Billups. Harmon said: "Please don't hire me to complete the task, this is the worst thing you can do to me." ”
"I don't want to be in the news because I'm the first lead coach in NBA history — it's because being the head coach that the team needs to be in the news."
Repeated failures in competition made Harmon finally discouraged and chose to leave the NBA. Her excellence has long been recognized by the world outside the NBA, so her first head coach job, salary, created the history of the WNBA.
When Harmon was hired by the Spurs in August 2014, she became the first full-time female assistant coach in NBA history. Now that there are eight full-time female teaching assistants in the NBA, Harmon is a pioneer of them.
The moment when Popovich says to Harmon, "You get up," means a lot to the NBA, but for Spurs players, it's just a repetitive tactic in training, and they're used to playing under Harmon's shouts.
When Kobe Bryant died two years ago, the Spurs team mourned Kobe Before the game. Hamon, who was sitting next to Popovich, couldn't help but shed tears, and Kobe Bryant and Harmon had always had a good relationship.
Although he did not become the "first person" in everyone's heart, Harmon has already won the respect of everyone.