SAN ANTONIO — It is inevitable that Spurs assistant coach Becky Hammon is bound to become a head basketball coach.
But if you are penciling her name to patrol the sidelines on an NBA team, think again.
In an interview with ESPN's LaChina Robinson, Hammon was asked about possibly filling the vacant head coaching spot with her former team, the New York Liberty.
She immediately said a return to New York would be hard to turn down as well as saying she is open to making a return to the WNBA as a head coach.
"My doors are open. I never closed the door on coming back to the women either," Hammon said. "To me, how could I? That's my heart. That's my roots! I never close the door on any opportunity. If I went back to the WNBA, don't blink."
Hammon played with the Liberty from 1999-2006. She was inducted into the Liberty Ring of Honor in 2015 and is one of New York's greatest players.
Naturally, for her to give back to the WNBA in a head coaching capacity would mean a lot to her despite many thinking she is bound to become the NBA's first female head coach.
"I don't look at it as a step back. No, it's not. It's a change of direction. It's a pivot but it's basketball. It's the same stuff," she said.
Following her time with the then-San Antonio Stars, Hammon joined the Spurs coaching staff in 2014 as an assistant coach.
Since then she's reached many milestones including becoming the first-ever female head coach in the NBA's Summer League in 2015 and leading the squad to the Summer League title that same summer.
In 2016, she became the first woman to be part of an NBA All-Star coaching staff and became the first female acting head coach in NBA history in 2020 when Gregg Popovich was ejected from a game.
She's seen as an up-and-coming head coach in the NBA but has yet to land with a team.
Hammon is ready for the head coaching reins whether it is with the Spurs once Popovich retires, on another NBA team, or realizing her head coaching dreams back in the WNBA where her pro-career started.
"Don't be surprised," Hammon said on the possibility of a WNBA return.
What do say you Spurs fans? Should Hammon jump to the WNBA or stick it out in the NBA until an opportunity arrives for her?
Let us know on Twitter at @KENS5 and at @JeffGSpursKENS5.