Way to go for everyone involved! Being a resident of Austin, we like to bask in the victory since my adopted city is considered San Antonio Spurs territory but we have a fair number of Mavericks and Rockets fans. We’re sadly saddled with Lakers and Warriors due to all the transplants.
The bigger story for us Austinites involves the Las Vegas Aces’ coach, Becky Hammon. Not only did she win the championship during her first time as a head coach, had she not taken the gig with the Aces, Becky could’ve been the first woman to be a head coach in the NBA. It could still happen given how skilled and charismatic she is. Before she left for Vegas, she was an assistant coach with Greg Popovich of the Spurs. He knew Becky was awesome when he brought her on to his staff several years ago and gave her the nod to be in charge of the off-season team stuff. What makes it great is that Greg didn’t do it out of pity or all the patronizing crap. He knew Becky had the potential to be a great head coach and said, show me what you got. You may also know Greg is rather vocal in his politics against the Right and The Floridian Fondler. He must’ve been bummed to see Becky go to Vegas when the offer happened but now I bet his filled with mudita like me.
Lastly, you all recall, I was in Sin City while the Aces were trying to win the championship. The place was abuzz with excitement as the Aces had a 2-0 lead in the series too. The pisser? You couldn’t find any Aces stuff anywhere! Namely at the Lids stores all over the Strip’s various malls/casinos. I haven’t had any luck online neither. Well, if I weren’t so fat and tall, I could squeeze into a women’s large. A couple nice ladies I ran into at Excalibur who were super helpful and knowledgable fans told me my favorite player would be A’ja Wilson; during my peak days in eight grade, I was a defensive center focused on rebounds, ergo, Wilson is my avatar!
Wait wait wait! Since when did I become a fan? I’ve come around on the WNBA not by becoming a bandwagon fan via Vegas/San Antonio. No. I’m willing to admit, I was wrong to think it will fizzle out even though the league has made it past 25 years. I’ve also had some conversations with dedicated fans who convinced me to think otherwise. This then got me to ponder a third possible league, a co-ed league combining WNBA and NBA players. Say three players on the court at all times must be women from the team and then two dudes fill out the rest. Combine the fantastic guards the WNBA produces with the NBA’s forwards, you get a whole new style of game! Women are pretty tough, billions have forced another human being out of their bodies but the men will have to cut back on the pushing and shoving game they do. It will be hilarious to see LeBron still exaggerate being hit by a woman easily a foot shorter than him to draw a foul.
Again, congratulations to Becky and the crew, Vegas better throw you all a parade!