Becky Hammon Questioned About 'Awkward' Caitlin Clark-A'ja Wilson Dynamic
Las Vegas Aces head coach Becky Hammon has witnessed a lot of greatness in her basketball career.
One thing that many modern WNBA fans don't know about Hammon is that she was a great player in her own right. She was a six-time WNBA All-Star, a two-time All-WNBA First-team honoree, and has been inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame, and the Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame.
She then retired in 2012 and joined the San Antonio Spurs' coaching staff two years later. While she joined the historic NBA franchise a couple of months after their 2014 championship and therefore doesn't have an NBA ring, she was still present for several great Spurs seasons behind star guard Kawhi Leonard. Not to mention that she was the assistant for Gregg Popovich, who will go down as one of the greatest basketball coaches of all time.
Hammon left the Spurs for the Aces' franchise on the last day of 2021. Since then, she has won three WNBA championships in her four seasons as a head coach and has witnessed superstar forward A'ja Wilson cement herself as arguably the best women's basketball player of all time, despite still not being 30 years old.
Becky Hammon Gets Asked About 'Awkward' Caitlin Clark and A'ja Wilson WNBA Dynamic
Hammon has also witnessed the league's massive spike in growth since 2024, which is largely attributed to Caitlin Clark's arrival in the WNBA.
CNBC's Alex Sherman interviewed the iconic coach on November 12. At one point, Sherman asked Hammon, "For the general public, when people think about the WNBA, the first player that comes to mind is Caitlin Clark... Whereas in the league, it's pretty clear that A'ja Wilson is the best player in the WNBA right now. Does that lead to a sort of awkward dynamic at all?"
"I don't think so," Hammon responded. "I think people want to make more of it than what it is. Let the numbers do the talking, the winning do the talking. Caitlin had a tough year, obviously, with injuries this year. She's gonna be a tremendous player in the league, there's no doubt about that.
"A'ja Wilson is the best player on the planet. And she's got the hardware and the numbers and everything to back it up. But Caitlin Clark bringing in the fanfare; I mean, she was one of the most exciting players I've ever seen on a collegiate level. And I would assume a healthy year for her, she's gonna be a great pro for a long time," Hammon added.
"But right now, A'ja Wilson is the 6'4", most dominant player in the league. By far," she concluded.
Props to Hammon for answering what could have been a tricky question with a lot of clarity and reverence for both Clark and Wilson.
Recommended Reading:
Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.
Follow GrvntYoung