Becky Hammon, head coach of WNBA champion Las Vegas Aces, is one of several candidates who will interview for the Toronto Raptors head coaching job to replace recently fired Nick Nurse.
Hammon is well known in the NBA; from 2014-2022 she worked as an assistant coach with the San Antonio Spurs, and has some NBA coaching experience — back in 2020, she coached a game for the Spurs when head coach Gregg Popovich got ejected during the game.
ESPN story on the Raptors embarking on a wide-ranging coaching search and securing permission to speak with several preliminary candidates: https://t.co/5TLPXofRsO
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) April 27, 2023
According to sources, the Raptors have received permission to interview several top assistant coaches including Golden State’s Kenny Atkinson, Sacramento’s Jordi Fernandez, Miami’s Chris Quinn and Milwaukee’s Charles Lee.
If she lands the position, Hammon would be the first-full time woman head coach in the league. The 46-year-old Russian native played for 13 years in the WNBA and represented Russia in the 2008 and 2012 Olympics.
According to sources, the Raptors are also expected to interview current assistant coach Adrian Griffin.
Former Raptors head coach Nick Nurse was fired last Friday after a disappointing 41-41 season, finishing ninth in the Eastern Conference. Since winning the NBA title in 2019, Toronto has won just one playoff series.
