Becky Hammon, NBA's 1st Female Coach, Delivers Lesson In Character at St. Francis Brooklyn

When Becky Hammon, a 13-year veteran of the WNBA and the first woman to hold a full-time coaching job in the NBA, delivered the 18th Thomas J. Volpe Lecture Monday afternoon at St. Francis Brooklyn, she spoke about the importance of character in sports and life.

As in C-H-A-R-A-C-T-E-R, or Courage, Habits, Accountability, Resiliency, Authenticity, Culture, Trust, Effect and Respect.

Speaking in Founders Hall to invited guests — including former New York Liberty teammates Kym Hampton and Vicki Johnson — the Terrier men’s and women’s basketball teams, and students from St. Francis as well as Manhattan’s Cathedral High School and Brooklyn’s Christo Rey High School, Ms. Hammon spoke forcefully about her beliefs and experiences.

In a wide ranging and frequently humorous talk, the 5-6 former point guard cited her time in the WNBA, stints as a player on the Russian Olympic team and her two years on the coaching staff of the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs to illustrate how she has been able to succeed despite despite numerous obstacles.

A devotion to the game and a superior work ethic are what led Spurs head coach Greg Popovich to invite the seven-time WNBA All-Star, following a career-ending knee injury, to join his staff for the 2014-15 NBA season.

The historic hire by Popovich, a three-time NBA Coach of the Year, has been a success. Not only has Ms. Hammon commanded respect — one of the attributes of “character” that she described — in an NBA locker room, she’s already left her mark on the Spurs’ organization, becoming the first female head coach to win an NBA summer league title when she led the San Antonio entry to a 93-90 win over the Phoenix Suns.

Opening her speech by stating that character is a word she hears constantly when speaking with parents, teachers and students about leadership, Ms. Hammon described it as the single most important factor that the Spurs, considered by many to be the NBA’s most successful franchise, use in evaluating a basketball player.

Perhaps the biggest test of her own character was, after being left off the America roster in 2008 despite a stellar 2007 WNBA season —she was runner-up in Most Valuable Player voting that season — the South Dakota native became a Russian citizen so that she might fulfill a dream of playing in the Olympics.

Describing her decision as “agonizing,” Ms. Hammon said, “It had always been my dream to play in the Olympics wearing the red white and blue.” But after what she described as “my best year ever in the WNBA,” a snub by then-U.S. national coach Anne Donovan left her with a choice: play for another country or forget about the Olympics, perhaps forever.

Ms. Hammon acknowledged that she might have “fallen flat on my face” by playing for Russia, but stated: “I knew in my heart that it was the right decision. I was going to walk through the door that God opened for me.”

In the Olympic semifinals in Beijing the Russian National Team was beaten 67-52 by the Americans. Ms. Hammon also played for Russia in the 2012 Olympics in London.

Speaking about “authenticity” — one of nine attributes that make up character, she said: “There isn’t another you on this planet, and there isn’t another me. I’m in charge of being the best me I can possibly be, and you are in charge of being the best you.”

Clearly this is a message Hammon — nicknamed ”Big Shot Becky” for her clutch shooting — has taken to heart; her success is a product of focused effort, both on the court and off.

Describing that she wanted to be remembered for “how I loved and treated my teammates… [and] how I treated people I had nothing to gain from,” the former Liberty and San Antonio Stars standout explained that choosing coaching over the more convenient (and lucrative) option of television was to have a “greater effect” on others.

Taylor Watson, a senior guard for the St. Francis women’s basketball team, asked if Ms. Hammon — as a trailblazer in a male-dominated realm — ever questioned her own capabilities. The coach quipped that she should write a book titled “21 Guys and A Girl” to describe her new life in the NBA, then added: “my whole life has prepared me for this point.”

At the close of her speech, the guest of honor was mobbed by the 250 people in attendance, her impact a clear indication of the respect and admiration they felt for an athlete whose character is perhaps unmatched in professional sports.

PHOTO CAPTION: Becky Hammon speaking at St. Francis Brooklyn Founders Hall
PHOTO CREDIT: St. Francis Brooklyn Media Relations