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Hammon, Wilson’s bond behind the scenes fuels the basketball under the bright lights
- Terrel Emerson
- 5 days ago
- 5 min read
Las Vegas Aces head coach Becky Hammon likes to take a little bit of inspiration from various head coaches around the NBA. Among those names include head coaches Erik Spoelstra, Ime Udoka, Quin Snyder, Chauncey Billups, Ty Lue and Nick Nurse.
But none more than former San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich, who Hammon spent seven years under as an assistant coach.
“Obviously, Pop is the greatest influence,” she said. “I’ve spent the most hours with him, studying under him, learning him, learning his system, learning his dos and don’ts [...] He takes the cake on the main influence.”
When Hammon took her first head coaching job in 2022, all she needed was a superstar who bought into her philosophy. Enter all-star A’ja Wilson.
“More importantly than just being the No. 1 pick, [Wilson and Tim Duncan] are two No. 1 people,” Hammon said. “Tim is about as humble and A’ja’s the same way. Very humble player, easy to coach, just wants to get it right and wants to be coached hard.”
Prior to Hammon’s jersey retirement in September 2021, Wilson had never met her future Hall-of-Fame head coach.
“It takes time,” Wilson said. “It takes a different type of trust, I look at it as kind of like a faith. You’ve got to believe in things and buy into things without really seeing it and trusting that person.
“Now, Becky’s my homegirl. She’s the only one that can be on my phone after hours and we’re just talking about the game. Anybody else? I’m not answering that phone.”
At the time of Hammon’s arrival, Wilson was a three-time all-star, one-time All-WNBA First Team member, one-time MVP award winner with no Defensive Player of the Year awards or WNBA champions to her credit.
In her first three years with Hammon at the helm, Wilson added three more all-star appearances, three more All-WNBA First Teams, two more MVPs, two Defensive Player of the Year awards and two elusive championships.
“Just her knowledge of the game from the NBA side,” Wilson said. “We see the NBA changes damn near by the possession but especially by the year because it’s so many youngsters coming in and just a wave of talent. The game changes.
“Becky saw that on that level and she brought it here. That’s why we took the league by storm because it was very unfamiliar.”
There’s more proof in the numbers:
PPG | FG% | 3PT Totals | 3PT% | RPG | SPG | BPG | |
Wilson’s numbers before Hammon hire | 19.0 points per game | 46% | 1/2 | 50% | 8.1 rebounds per game | 0.8 steals per game | 1.6 blocks per game |
Wilson’s numbers after Hammon hire | 23.2 points per game | 52% | 84/231 | 36% | 10.2 rebounds per game | 1.6 steals per game | 2.3 blocks per game |
“When I first got here she wasn’t shooting any threes,” Hammon said. “We’re basically putting her in guard sets now, we’re running her like a guard. We run her off stagger [screens], we run pick-and-roll for her, she can handle, she can not handle, she can shoot the three now. I just think opening her mind that this is a coach that’s okay with you doing all that stuff.”
It wasn't nearly a one-sided affair, as Hammon captured a championship that long eluded her as a player despite her 15 years logged in the WNBA. Now both share the same two championship rings inside their trophy collection.
All things considered, that’s why Wilson doesn’t bat an eye when the team faces adversity as it did this year when it was 14-14 more than midway through the season. She understands turnarounds under Hammon happen quickly.
“Becky’s basketball IQ and basketball mind is up there with the greats,” Wilson said. “Obviously when you’re under somebody that’s great like Pop, you have no choice but to have a great basketball mind. But you can see why Pop poured so much into her because the way that she sees the game, the way she attacks the game is just amazing.
“When we were in that slump and when we aren’t playing our best basketball, there’s not a doubt in my mind that we’re going to pull through or figure it out because Becky’s our head honcho.”
Turn around quickly it did as the Aces went on a 16-game win streak to end the year, finishing with a 30-14 overall record good for the No. 2 seed in this year’s playoffs.
During the win streak, Wilson averaged 24.5 points per game on 53% from the field with a 60% mark from beyond the arc to go along with 12 rebounds per game, more than a steal and a half steals per contest and more than two blocks a game.
By doing so, she could’ve very well put the finishing touches on a fourth MVP award, something that has never been done by a player in the WNBA.
The often-humble Wilson is still finding balance in blocking out the naysayers and talking directly to them through her game.
“It’s just who I am,” she said. “I love what I do every single day but at the same time I love telling people what I do and showing up and showing them what I do because I love that I can make the game look easy but I’m going to be the first to tell you that it’s not easy at all.
“I’m going to show why I’m great at what I do and I’m going to show why you can never be on my level and I love that type of attitude and I’m always gonna carry it with a smile because I’m grateful.”
All the while, Wilson’s continuing to find new ways to be a leader. Whether it be leading vocally in the locker room, leading by example on the court or by being the muse that no single person is bigger than the system.
“The ability to hold your best player accountable but then also holding them accountable in front of the group,” Hammon said. “That was one of the first things I did with A’ja was ask her permission basically to coach her hard and I didn’t know her at that time.
“There’s no ego here. There’s just, ‘I want to win and I want to be the best I can be.’”
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