Las Vegas Aces head coach Becky Hammon is being tapped as a potential candidate to replace Gregg Popovich as the head coach of the San Antonio Spurs.

Popovich, who is currently the longest-tenured coach in the NBA, has not been with the Spurs since November last year after he suffered a stroke.

Mitch Johnson is currently filling in for Pop. However, the Spurs front office will need to decide who will replace him should he ultimately decide to announce his retirement. There are many suitable replacements, including Hammon, who learned under Popovich’s own wing.

During a Q&A luncheon by David Chancellor, Hammon shared her thoughts in extreme detail on the possibility of replacing Popovich.

“I’m always open to entertaining [a] different idea,” Hammon said. “I’ve not gone on interviews, I’ve told teams no. That’s just where I’m at. It’ll have to be the right fit, the right opportunity at the right time in front of the right people.”

Hammon then talked about how much she enjoys her current job as the Aces coach, but she also said she’s not completely opposed to coaching elsewhere.

“If it happens, what’s for me is for me,” Hammon added. “And when it’s time, it’ll happen if it’s supposed to happen.”

The Aces hired Becky Hammon to be their head coach in 2021, and she has built a winning culture with the team. In her three years with the team, they became back-to-back WNBA champions (2022 and 2023).

They fell short of a three-peat last season when they fell to the eventual champions, the New York Liberty, in the semifinals.

Prior to coaching in Las Vegas, Hammon was an assistant for Popovich in San Antonio.

Becky Hammon’s coaching milestone makes her stand out among Spurs assistants

Becky Hammon has carved her own identity as one of the best coaches that came from Gregg Popovich’s coaching tree, which include Steve Kerr, Mike Budenholzer, and Monty Williams.

Las Vegas Aces head coach Becky Hammon yells at an official Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024, during a game between the Indiana Fever and the Las Vegas Aces at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The Aces defeated the Fever, 86-75.

Hammon served as Pop’s assistant coach from 2014 until she was hired by the Las Vegas Aces. The 2015 Summer League solidified her as the real deal, when she became the first woman to bring the team to a Summer League championship.

Aug 9, 2024; Paris, France; Becky Hammon, Russian-American basketball coach, poses for a photo during a women’s basketball semifinal game during the Paris 2024 Olympic Summer Games at Accor Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

The Aces coach also became the first-ever female assistant to take over in an NBA regular-season game. On December 20, 2020, she stepped up as acting head coach after Popovich was ejected during the game between the Spurs and the LA Lakers.