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Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis is expanding his desert sports empire. He entered an agreement to purchase the WNBA’s Las Vegas Aces from MGM Resorts International, the team announced today. The deal is pending approval by the league’s board of governors. MGM brought the Aces — formerly the Utah Starzz and San Antonio Stars — to Vegas in 2018. The team, led by league MVP A’ja Wilson, reached the 2020 WNBA Finals. WNBA ownership has already been a topic of discussion in 2021, as LeBron James suggested he wanted to buy the Atlanta Dream from Kelly Loeffler after she lost the Georgia Senate runoff election.
If Becky Hammon is disappointed when we get on a Zoom call on Wednesday afternoon, she doesn’t show it. Earlier that morning, the Oklahoma City Thunder announced the hiring of a new head coach—and despite being widely considered a top contender for the role, instead of announcing the first female head coach in the National Basketball Association, the organization named the zillionth man. Still, Hammon, who has been a top assistant coach for the Spurs since finishing her WNBA career with the San Antonio Stars in 2014, sits comfortably in a purple checked blazer with her collar popped, as swaggering a personality as any you’d find in the NBA.
Becky Hammon played eight seasons for the San Antonio Stars, and was the face of the franchise during its glory years. She has her No. 25 retired in the rafters at the AT&T Center, the only WNBA player to achieve that honor in the Alamo City. So Hammon’s reaction to the news San Antonio is poised to lose the only WNBA franchise it has ever known was not surprising. “It sucks,” Hammon said.
On June 25 the San Antonio Stars will retire the number 25 jersey of one Rebecca Lynn Hammon. We know her better as Becky. The jersey retirement ceremony will take place at the AT&T Center when the Stars host the Atlanta Dream at 7pm. The first 2,525 fans will receive a free Becky Hammon T-Shirt.
After 16 years in the pros, first with the New York Liberty, then the San Antonio Stars, Hammon's bona fides are well established. "She impressed me," Spurs guard Manu Ginobili said. "Because of her size. She wasn't the fastest. You could tell she could find a way to become important. Even if she wasn't shooting great one day, but she was smart, one step ahead. The type of player that usually becomes coaches."
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The Sears Shooting Stars contest features one current NBA player, one current WNBA player and an NBA Legend on each team. [...] Two teams representing the Western Conference and two teams representing the Eastern Conference will compete in the 2014 Sears Shooting Stars. Joining Durant, the three-time NBA scoring champ (2009-10, 2010-11, 2011-12) on one Western Conference team are Hall of Famer Karl Malone and the No. 3 overall selection in the 2013 WNBA Draft, Skylar Diggins of the Tulsa Shock. Curry is joined on the second West team by his father, NBA Legend Dell Curry, and six-time WNBA All-Star Becky Hammon of the San Antonio Stars. The East stand-ins for one team are Tim Hardaway Jr. from the New York Knicks, his father and NBA Legend, Tim Hardaway Sr., and 2013 WNBA Rookie of the Year Elena Della Donne. Two-time NBA champion Bosh is joined by Hall of Fame member Dominique Wilkins and three-time WNBA champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist Swin Cash of the Chicago Sky.
Pistons coach Lawrence Frank has made two choices for his coaching staff. Former NBA players Dee Brown and Roy Rogers will sit to Frank's side whenever next season starts, a source confirmed to The Detroit News. Brown, 42, was most recently the head coach and general manager of the Springfield (Mass.) Armor in the NBA Developmental League (NBDL). Brown also coached the WNBA's Orlando Miracle and San Antonio Silver Stars. He's more known for his exploits during the 1991 Slam Dunk Contest, where he won it with his famous no-look dunk.
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