"Men should not be allowed to be head coaches in the WNBA" - Stephen A. Smith pushes for Becky Hammon to coach in NBA after cementing legacy with Aces

Stephen A. Smith believes that Las Vegas Aces coach Becky Hammon deserves to have an opportunity to coach in the NBA. On Friday, Hammon led the Aces to their third championship in four years, as they swept the Phoenix Mercury in the WNBA Finals.

In a clip of "The Stephen A. Smith Show" shared on X on Saturday, the NBA analyst doubled down on his praises for Hammon.

"I've said this on many occasions, and I'll say it again: she deserves to coach in the NBA," Smith said. "If I owned an NBA team, I would not mind giving her a chance as the head coach of my franchise because that woman knows what she's doing. "But, I’m just talking about Becky Hammon doing what she did in the NBA level as an assistant coach, and coaching the Summer League team for the men to a title before she took the Las Vegas Aces’ job. She has been a staple in basketball, period."

Smith also advocated for a woman to be an NBA coach.

"I'm just really big on this man, I believe men should not be allowed to be head coaches in the WNBA because you don’t see women coaching in the NBA at the head-coaching level," Smith said. "If you’re going to do that to the women, having a man coach the WNBA team, then a woman should be allowed to be the head coach of an NBA team. That’s what I believe."

Hammon was an assistant under Gregg Popovich with the San Antonio Spurs from 2014 until 2021. In 2015, she led the Spurs' Summer League team to a championship.

Hammon was the first woman to serve as an acting coach during an NBA regular-season game. She filled in for Popovich, who was ejected in a game in December 2020.

Becky Hammon has also reportedly interviewed for several NBA coaching vacancies in recent years. Most notably, in 2021, she was a finalist to be the Portland Trail Blazers coach before the job went to Chauncey Billups.

"This one hits differently" - Becky Hammon on winning third WNBA title

While the Las Vegas Aces dominated the Phoenix Mercury in the WNBA Finals, Becky Hammon's team struggled early in the season. The Aces were a .500 team and had to endure a 53-point loss to the Minnesota Lynx in August. They went on a WNBA-record 16-game winning streak to end the season and grab the No. 2 seed.

"I love being their coach, I love being their friend," Hammon said postgame on Friday. "I love pushing them, sometimes probably to their disliking a little bit, but I'm invested in their greatness. ... This one hits differently because it was different. There was probably a lot more adversity than any of us anticipated. "At the end of day, we're all human, and we're humans that wanted to get it right and get it right together."

Becky Hammon has created a dynasty since arriving in Las Vegas in 2022. And with four-time WNBA MVP A'ja Wilson just 29 years old, the Aces are expected to be contenders for several years to come. While Hammon is arguably qualified to be at the helm in the NBA, it could prove to be a difficult decision when the time comes.

Edited by Kim Daniel Rubinos