Originally Posted by
Pelicanidae
It is rolling the dice, but I think it's a risk worth taking. She has plenty of experience in the world of basketball, firstly as a player, and for someone without previous HC experience it's hard to get a better pedigree than coming from the Spurs organisation. We will have a young team with all of those things, but that's partially a pro imo. Hammon has shown (via Spurs summer league, as you mentioned) that she's able to connect with and motivate young players at least to some success.
It is a risk, sure, but I think any coach you hire in our current situation is a risk. All the sure-fire good coaches like Budenholzer, Snyder, Pop, etc, already have jobs and they're really not likely to leave them. Any coach you hire is one that's either a risk, or has been squeezed out for some reason or another (these are the Mark Jacksons of the world) and in that scenario I think it's worth taking the risk on someone new.
As for the pressure of hiring the first female HC, that is a valid point. Not in terms of on-court product, since I take Pau Gasol's word for it when he says that Hammon can coach at an NBA level, but there's going to be a lot of people who look at us through a lense of sexism where they hold Hammon to a higher standard than other coaches. I get that. But I also think that this same microscope can be a boon: this organisation should be a forward thinking one. Of course we need to make sure the people are qualified, but insofar as those requirements are met, it is a good thing to open the doors and diversify. For every person that dismisses us for hiring a female HC, there will be another who appreciates that as a positive, and we should embrace that mentality imo.
At the same time, it's not a total shock either: a lot of people have been saying Hammon should get a HC position for a couple of years. For some, it will be less ''oh, so the Pelicans hired a female HC?'' and more ''finally, someone hired Hammon for a HC position! Nice.''