The WNBA’s 30th season gave Becky Hammon a reason to look back. Her answer sounded less like nostalgia and more like a window into the way she still sees the game.
Before Monday’s Las Vegas Aces game against Dallas, Hammon was asked about her fondest memories as a player. She did not choose an award, a stat line or one clean championship scene.
She chose pressure.
“I think in 2008, that Stars run,” Hammon said. “And then in 1999, my first year with the Liberty, Spoon hit that shot, that half-court shot.”
Make it to the W
Hammon’s WNBA story started with a simple goal.
When the league launched in 1997, Hammon was still in college at Colorado State. The idea of playing professionally in the United States immediately became real.
“Make it to the W,” Hammon said. “That was my simple thought: make it to the W.”
She did more than make it. Hammon went undrafted in 1999, signed with the New York Liberty and built a 16-year WNBA career that made her one of the league’s defining guards.
Spoon’s shot
That first season put Hammon near one of the WNBA’s signature moments.
In Game 2 of the 1999 WNBA Finals, the Liberty were trying to stay alive against the Houston Comets. Teresa Weatherspoon gave them that chance with a half-court winner that forced a deciding Game 3.
Hammon did not dress it up when she recalled it.
“Spoon hit that shot,” she said.
That was the memory. That was enough.
Stars in a storm
The 2008 memory came from a different stage of Hammon’s career.
By then, she was in San Antonio. The Silver Stars went 24-10, finished with the WNBA’s best regular-season record and reached the Finals.
But the run nearly ended in the Western Conference Finals against the Los Angeles Sparks. Sophia Young hit a 14-foot turnaround at the buzzer to win Game 2 and force a deciding game.
Then Hammon took over. She scored 35 points in Game 3 as San Antonio beat Los Angeles and advanced to the Finals.
Still chasing 40
That is why Hammon’s answer mattered.
Her favorite memories were not about comfort. They were about response, late possessions and teams finding one more answer under pressure.
Now, those same ideas shape the way she talks about the Aces.
Before facing Dallas, Hammon said Las Vegas was still chasing a full 40 minutes. She talked about defense, toughness, mental lapses and offensive connection.
That does not sound like a coach reaching for talking points. It sounds like a former player who remembers what survives in the biggest moments.
The standard stays
Hammon’s playing memories still show up in the Aces’ present.
The player who lived through “The Shot,” the Stars run and a hard playoff series against the Sparks now coaches a team she wants to be tougher, cleaner and more complete.
That is not just history.
That is the standard.
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Dice City Sports editor Mark Hebert covers the Vegas Golden Knights, Las Vegas Raiders, Athletics, and UNLV baseball and softball. He has 24 years of journalism experience, is also a senior reporter at Exhibit City News, and previously covered the Dallas Stars and Texas Rangers. Follow him on X or connect on LinkedIn.
