Spurs' Becky Hammon hosts "Hoops for All"

Hammon engages and embraces special needs youth as she teaches basketball skills

SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Spurs assistant coach Becky Hammon helped Morgan’s Wonderland by hosting “Hoops for All,” a free community event. There were two sessions featuring the first full-time female assistant coach in the history of the NBA. Session one, held Monday morning, focused on ambulatory basketball, while session two, held in the afternoon, concentrated on wheelchair basketball. Becky was joined by children 8 to 18 years of age with cognitive and physical special needs, and during the wheelchair session, Becky was right in the mix.

“It’s different, it’s challenging,” said Hammon. “I just wanted to come out here and see these guys, how they play. They’re teaching me stuff.”

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Hammon, who had a remarkable playing career in the WNBA that included eight seasons with the San Antonio Stars, talked about the difficulties of playing wheelchair basketball, “I’m learning new rules: how you have to dribble, how many spins you have to take before you dribble. I’m getting an education out here. It’s lots of fun.”

The “Hoops for All” event is also intended to introduce athletes with special needs to the South Texas Regional Adaptive and Para Sports, a Morgan’s Wonderland-sponsored program of fitness and athletic competition for the special needs community.