When a team stacks up multiple WNBA titles, MVPs, and cultural impact, it’s easy to credit the players. But during the recent championship parade, A’ja Wilson made it abundantly clear that the person behind their triumphant recent run is none other than Becky Hammon.
As the crowd roared, Wilson, usually poised and measured, grew emotional. “When you’re talking about a woman that pours into you, that sacrifices for you, that loves you for who you are, that’s that motherf***king Becky Hammon,” she said.
“And she believed in us when no one did. She brought us back to life. And I’m so appreciative of what you do and how you pour into each and every last one of us. We go nowhere without Becky Hammon.”
In wrapping her arms around her coach’s shoulders, Wilson emphasized that their championship did not spring solely from the stat lines or highlight plays, but from the ecosystem that Hammon built, one built on trust, accountability, and belief.
“She’s changed the game, and even off the court with her hoodie blazer, period,” Wilson added. “She’s changed the game so much, and I don’t want anyone to take her greatness or any of our greatness for granted.”
More than X’s and O’s: The backdrop of transformation
The Aces weren’t dominant all season. At one point they stood at 14-14 and had suffered a brutal 53-point loss to the Minnesota Lynx.
But under Hammon‘s steady hand and Wilson‘s unquestioned leadership, the team embarked on a 16-game winning streak to catapult into playoff seeding.
Within that turnaround was a subtle shift in structure. The team began crafting its own scouting reports, a method encouraged by Hammon.
Wilson and her teammates would meet, strategize, and debate, even excluding the coaches, before the staff reentered the room. That shift made accountability real, rather than performative.
It’s telling that Wilson, the face of the franchise, used the parade platform not to boast about her own numbers, but to hallow the coach who enabled them. In so doing, she positioned Hammon not just as a tactician, but as an architect of culture and belief.
There’s movement underway to chronicle Hammon‘s journey in film. A documentary backed by SMAC and other producers aims to lift the curtain on her rise and impact.
“For decades, women on the hardwood have been underestimated and told to stay in their lane,” said SMAC CEO Constance Schwartz-Morini. “Becky defied every expectation and broke through barriers that once seemed unshakable. Her journey inspires us all, and we’re honored to tell her story.”
Wilson’s tribute left no ambiguity: while she is indisputably a generational talent, she acknowledged that the stage she occupies was constructed by someone else’s vision and belief. That spotlight was hers to receive, but the foundation belongs to Becky Hammon.
In a sport built on competition, it’s rare to see a player unabashedly give away credit, not to a teammate, not to a staff member, but to a coach.
But Wilson did just that, using the most emotional moment of all to call out who she believes is ultimately responsible for the Aces’ sustained success.
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