Becky Hammon of Las Vegas Aces voted WNBA Coach of the Year

NEW YORK (AP) — Becky Hammon was named WNBA Coach of the Year on Friday after she led the Las Vegas Aces to the top of the league in her first year.

Hammon guided the Aces to a 26-10 record and the No. 1 seed in the playoffs. The Aces host the Seattle Storm in Game 1 of a best-of-five semifinal series on Sunday.

Hammon received 27 votes from a national panel of 56 sports media members, the WNBA said. Tanisha Wright of the Atlanta Dream was second (18 votes) and James Wade of the Chicago Sky was third (8).

The Aces averaged a WNBA-high 90.4 points, the third-highest scoring average in league history, and dramatically improved their 3-point shooting. Las Vegas made a league-record 23 3s last week in a playoff win over Phoenix.

Hammon played 16 seasons in the WNBA, eight with the New York Liberty and eight with the San Antonio Silver Stars. She then spent eight seasons as an assistant coach with the San Antonio Spurs, who hired her in 2014 as the first full-time female assistant in league history.

Las Vegas owner Mark Davis, who also owns the NFL’s Raiders, hired Hammon as coach this season, making her the first WNBA coach to earn $1 million. The Aces, who lost in the 2020 WNBA Finals to Seattle, are aiming for their first title.

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