Becky Hammon makes history while coaching Spurs against Knicks

LAS VEGAS -- Every few minutes, Becky Hammon would check some notes and then stuff the list back into her hip pocket. She huddled with her assistant coaches while scribbling up plays that she would show her team during timeouts. She paced the sideline at times, maybe burning off a bit of nervous energy.

In other words, she coached. And though it may have seemed normal, it was different.

Hammon made another piece of history yesterday, becoming the first woman to lead a team in an NBA summer league game. Hammon's Spurs lost to the Knicks, 78-73, in the Las Vegas debut for both teams. "I'm learning all sorts of kinds of things, not just about X's and O's but how to handle a team, how to speak to guys," she said. "I feel like I'm just a flower that's getting great roots -- but far from blooming."

Other women have coached in summer league -- Basketball Hall of Famer Nancy Lieberman was invited by George Karl to be on the Kings' staff this summer and Lindsey Harding, a former No. 1 overall pick in the WNBA draft, is a guest on Toronto's staff in Las Vegas -- but no woman actually had been in charge of a roster. Until now.

"It shouldn't be a big deal because it's coaches coaching. She's been given an opportunity to do what she's done her whole life," said Lieberman, who became the first woman to coach a men's pro team in the NBA Development League. "The thing that catches everybody's eye is that we're women coaching men. Eventually, it'll be normal. But certainly, Becky has opened up a tremendous door. She's the right person for the job.

"We know we're women,'' Lieberman said. "We're just trying to do this thing and make it normal. To all these other people, they haven't seen that before. It's our job. It's like President Obama. He knew he was black before he got the job. It was his job to make it normal. It's our job to make it normal.''