Leigh Anne Gullett was at home on the night of Dec. 30, pretty much oblivious to what was going on outside of her walls. A media relations veteran, Gullett was reading a book when she was interrupted by a text from a Dallas/Fort Worth-area sports journalist. The message was short. But its ramification was huge.

“I think your girl is the HC right now,” the text read.

Gullett immediately turned her television to the Spurs-Los Angeles Lakers game and found Spurs assistant coach Becky Hammon strolling along the sidelines. Hammon was serving as head coach after coach Gregg Popovich was ejected after receiving two technicals late in the first half.

Hammon became the first woman to serve as head coach in an NBA game. Gullett, a former media relations manager for the San Antonio Stars, the city’s former WNBA franchise that was sold and relocated to Las Vegas in 2017, was the first person that Hammon met when she arrived in the Alamo City 14 years ago after being traded from the New York Liberty.

“My immediate reaction any time I see her on the sidelines is always a combination of feeling proud of her and excited to see her there,” Gullett said. “But then my stomach is usually in knots because every minute of the game matters so much more to me. I know she belongs there. I know how great she will be as a head coach someday, and I’m horribly impatient for the rest of the world to see it, too.

“I think the players and coaches who are around her everyday know it, too. It’s just a matter of everybody else catching up. She’s so competitive and smart. People get hung up on gender, but it’s so irrelevant. I know I’m biased because she’s one of my closest friends, but I’ve also spent almost 20 years in locker rooms as part of team staffs for both men’s and women’s teams. It didn’t feel like history as much as it felt like one more step forward in the journey because I believe she’s destined to be a head coach in the NBA, and an excellent one.”

Hammon, who joined the Spurs’ coaching staff in 2014, is one of six women who are NBA assistant coaches, joining Dallas’ Jenny Boucek, Toronto’s Brittni Donaldson, Los Angeles Clippers’ Natalie Nakase, Cleveland’s Lindsay Gottlieb, Sacramento’s Lindsey Harding, Memphis’ Sonia Raman and New Orleans’ Teresa Weatherspoon. Weatherspoon and Hammon were WNBA teammates in New York (1999-2003), while Harding and Boucek also played in the league.

“Obviously, it’s a big deal,” Hammon told reporters after the game. “It’s a substantial moment.”

It’s a moment that Hammon was suited for, former Stars media relations director Rachel Askin said. Askin was with the team in 2010 when the roster included the likes of Sophia Young-Malcolm, Chamique Holdsclaw, Michelle Snow, Ruth Riley, Helen Darling and rookie Jayne Appel Marinelli. The Stars, under first-year coach Sandy Brondello, lost to Phoenix in the Western Conference semifinals that year.

“It’s been inspiring to watch as Hammon has risen to every challenge in her career, setting a high bar for those who inevitably will follow suit,” Askin said. “What’s more, her ‘This is business as usual’ approach brings an air of normalcy to her accomplishments, especially considering that being a great coach has no innate link to one’s gender. Hammon is a natural leader, whose extensive knowledge in combination with her drive to win makes her a great addition to any coaching staff and it’s only a matter of time before she’s permanently at the helm as head coach.”

To get a glimpse of Hammon’s leadership and ability to connect with others, all one has to do is go back to May 15, 2014.

Heather Butler was in a hotel room that evening in Atlanta, nervously awaiting her WNBA debut a day later. Butler’s path to the league was similar to Hammon’s, with both being undersized, high-scoring guards in college who went undrafted but found a spot on an opening-day roster.

As the 5-foot-4 Butler wrestled with doubts about whether she was good enough to play in the professional ranks, her cellphone buzzed with a text message from an unfamiliar number. The text offered Butler encouragement and employed her to have confidence.

The text came from Hammon, who was back in San Antonio rehabbing a sprained left ankle.

“I’ll never forget that moment, and will always remember it like it was yesterday, because that moment meant so much to me, and I won’t ever be able to tell her just how much,” said Butler, who recently retired from playing professionally and is teaching and coaching. “I remember being so nervous the night before the game, with so many thoughts going through my head, still overwhelmed with different feelings of joy, shock, and disbelief that I was about to suit up for my first official WNBA game, my literal dream. But once I received those encouraging words from her that night, she gave me such confidence and peace that nobody else was able to give me. Those words were so powerful and meant more than words can describe coming from her, and looking back, it is no surprise that she is killing it as a coach for the Spurs. She is right where she is supposed to be and there is nobody more deserving of all of her success.”

Former Reagan High School standout Jessica Kuster concurs. Kuster was in the Stars’ training camp with Butler in 2014, and although she was didn’t earn a spot on the roster — she was one of the final cuts — Hammon made a lasting impact.

“Seeing Becky hired with the Spurs was already such a special moment, that to actually see her as the stand-in coach is almost a ‘pinch-me’ moment,” said Kuster, who retired from playing last summer to go into ministry. “Having gotten a chance to see her in practice, the way she led and how she saw the game, it really is something special to see something that everyone already knew about her being displayed on such a big stage.

“I was in my room when I found out (about Hammon serving as head coach) on Instagram. About a day or two later, a couple of people messaged me, non-basketball people even, who wanted to see what I thought, and even they were excited about the occasion. I think that speaks a lot about the magnitude of the whole thing really, just how much what Becky is getting to do means to so many of us.”

Kelsey Minato never met Hammon, arriving in the Alamo City two seasons after her retirement. But there is a kindred basketball spirit shared by the two. Minato, like Hammon, enjoyed a record-setting college career. She was an All-American, a three-time Patriot League player of the year, scored more career points than any player, male or female, in league history, and once made an NCAA-record 26 of 26 free throws in a game. She was the first player at Army, male or female, to have her jersey retired.

With post-graduate military obligations, though, Minato’s prospects of playing in the WNBA weren’t promising. She went undrafted, but then-Stars coach Dan Hughes invited her to training camp. Minato played in two preseason games before being cut, then went on to fulfill a five-year commitment as a member of the first class to graduate from West Point when combat positions were opened to qualifying women.

“It’s amazing what Becky has done for young female athletes all over the world,” Minato said. “We all know the work she has done in paving the way for generations behind her to continue reaching new heights, despite gender and despite the sport. She lets her work ethic and knowledge of the game speak for themselves, and I look forward to the day when women coaching in male-dominated sports is the norm.”

So, too, does Kortney Dunbar. A four-year player at national power Tennessee, Dunbar just completed two seasons as a graduate assistant on former WNBA player and coach Stephanie White’s staff at Vanderbilt University and hopes Hammon’s breakthrough will open the floodgates for more women.

“As a female in today’s society, it was truly an inspiring moment to witness,” Dunbar said. “A powerful woman on the sidelines of an NBA game crushing stereotypes one play call at a time. I loved every second of it and only hope there will be many more to lead in the upcoming seasons.”

The signs point to Hammon earning the opportunity to be an NBA head coach sooner rather than later.

“Many people were doubting a woman being able to coach in the NBA, and now look at her achieving milestones that are such an inspiration and continuing to pave the way for young girls and women,” Butler said of Hammon. “Her story is so powerful and she’s a living testimony for young girls still playing around the world that are able to look up to her in such a light and see just how far you can go if you just put your mind to it and control what you can control — like your work ethic, drive, and determination. Becky is one of a kind, and I can’t tell you how much she amazes me. They say super heroes don’t exist, but she’s as close to it as you can get. She’s a true superwoman.”

terrence@terrencesports.com
Twitter: @sa_terrence1