Las Vegas Aces head coach Becky Hammon has been named the 2022 WNBA Coach of the Year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hammon\u00a0becomes the third former WNBA player to win the award, joining Sandy Brondello (2014) and Suzie McConnell-Serio (2004). She is the first former player to earn the honor in her debut season as a WNBA head coach and the only one to win the award while coaching the franchise for which she previously played.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hammon\u00a0received 27 votes from a national panel of 56 sportswriters and broadcasters.\u00a0 Tanisha Wright of the Atlanta Dream finished in second place with 18 votes and James Wade of the Chicago Sky was third with eight votes.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Vickie Johnson of the Dallas Wings, Vanessa Nygaard of the Phoenix Mercury and Mike Thibault of the Washington Mystics each received one vote each.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In her first season as a WNBA head coach,\u00a0Hammon\u00a0guided Las Vegas to a 26-10 record and the No. 1 seed in the 2022 WNBA Playoffs presented by Google.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Aces will continue their quest for the franchise\u2019s first WNBA championship when they host the fourth-seeded Seattle Storm in Game 1 of a Semifinals series on Sunday, Aug. 28 at 4 p.m. ET (1 p.m. PT) on ESPN.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hammon led the Aces to the third-highest regular-season winning percentage in franchise history (.722). Las Vegas posted a 9-1 record against Western Conference rivals in Commissioner\u2019s Cup play during the first half of the regular season and defeated the Chicago Sky 93-83 in the Commissioner\u2019s Cup Championship Game on July 26.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Under\u00a0Hammon, four Aces players \u2013 guards Kelsey Plum and Jackie Young and forwards Dearica Hamby and A\u2019ja Wilson \u2013 were named to the 2022 AT&T WNBA All-Star Game<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0Hammon\u00a0earned a spot as head coach in the game and guided Team Wilson to a 134-112 victory.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Aces averaged a WNBA-high 90.4 points per game this season, the third-highest scoring average in league history and the highest mark since 2010.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n They broke the WNBA record for most points by a team in a season opener in their 106-88 victory over the Mercury on May 6.\u00a0 Las Vegas also set the WNBA record for points per game by a team\u2019s starters in a season (77.5 ppg).\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hammon\u00a0played 16 seasons in the WNBA, including her final eight with the San Antonio Silver Stars, for which she helped the franchise reach its first WNBA Finals, in 2008.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n A six-time WNBA All-Star selection,\u00a0Hammon\u00a0was named as one of the 25 greatest players to ever play in the WNBA as part of the League\u2019s 25th<\/sup>\u00a0anniversary celebration during the 2021 season.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Her No. 25 jersey was retired by Las Vegas on Sept. 13, 2021, in a ceremony that served as the culmination of the franchise\u2019s 25th<\/sup> anniversary alumni initiative, which saw the organization embrace its Utah and San Antonio roots established before the team moved to Las Vegas in 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n