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Becky Hammon was the first female coach in a major American sports league and the first female to lead a team to an NBA Las Vegas Summer League title, and now she’s set to be the first female to coach in an All-Star game, NBA TV announced Friday.

On Wednesday, Hammon’s boss, Gregg Popovich, was named coach of the Western Conference All-Star team, and he’s bringing Hammon with him.

Hammon, 38, played 16 seasons in the WNBA, reaching six All-Star teams. In 2014, the Spurs hired her as an assistant coach, and this past summer she led San Antonio’s summer league team to a title.

Coaching the All-Star is a cool next step for Hammon, who remains young, with plenty of time to move up the NBA coaching ladder.

We’ll see what the long-term holds for Hammon’s coaching career, but Popovich is also the U.S. Olympic coach, so maybe another assistant coaching first lies in Hammon’s near future?

About Alex Putterman

Alex is a writer and editor for The Comeback and Awful Announcing. He has written for The Atlantic, VICE Sports, MLB.com, SI.com and more. He is a proud alum of Northwestern University and The Daily Northwestern. You can find him on Twitter @AlexPutterman.

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