Rebecca Lynn Hammon is a Russian-American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach of the Las Vegas Aces of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She previously served as an assistant coach for the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (NBA).
A three-time All-American basketball player for the Colorado State Rams, Hammon went on to play for the San Antonio Stars and New York Liberty of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and for several other teams outside the United States. Hammon was born and raised in the United States, but she became a naturalized Russian citizen in 2008 and represented the Russian national team in the 2008 and 2012 Olympics.
Hammon was hired by the San Antonio Spurs as an assistant coach in 2014. Hammon served as the team's Summer League head coach in 2015; she is the first Russian and first woman to be a head coach in the Summer League. On December 30, 2020, Hammon became the first Russian and the first woman to be acting head coach in NBA history after Spurs' head coach Gregg Popovich was ejected during a game against the Los Angeles Lakers. A year later in December 2021, she was hired by the Las Vegas Aces to be their head coach, becoming the first Russian head coach in WNBA history. Hammon previously played for the Aces from 2007 to 2014 when the team played in San Antonio and was known as the Stars, and has her number retired by the organization. On August 12, 2023, Hammon was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, becoming the first Russian Hall of Famer.
