As a 5-foot-6 point guard, decorated WNBA veteran Becky Hammon has never had the experience of shattering a backboard with a dunk. Shes busting through the glass ceiling instead. The San Antonio Spurs hired Hammon as an assistant coach on Tuesday, making her the first full-time, paid female assistant on an NBA coaching staff. When Hammon retires from her 16-year WNBA career at the end of the San Antonio Stars season, she will immediately move to the staff of the defending NBA champions, working with the revered Gregg Popovich on scouting, game-planning and the day-to-day grind of practice like no woman has ever done before. "Nothing in my life has really ever been easy. Ive always been someone who did it uphill," Hammon said. "Im up for challenges. Im up for being outside the box, making tough decisions and challenges. ... And Im a little bit of an adrenaline junkie. Throw those all in there and this was the perfect challenge and opportunity." That makes her fit right in with the Spurs, an organization with a reputation for bold decisions. Popovich and general manager R.C. Buford have long been at the forefront of the leagues international influx and earlier this summer hired European coaching legend Ettore Messina as an assistant. During the 2001-02 season, Cleveland Cavaliers coach John Lucas brought Lisa Boyer into the teams practices and some games. Boyer, now an assistant at South Carolina, was not paid by the Cavaliers and did not travel with the team, but did work with the players and coaches that season. "I very much look forward to the addition of Becky Hammon to our staff," Popovich said in a statement released by the team. "Having observed her working with our team this past season, Im confident her basketball IQ, work ethic and interpersonal skills will be a great benefit to the Spurs." But Popovich and Buford were not available in person and Hammon had the spotlight entirely to herself. "Congratulations to Becky on todays announcement," Boyer said in a statement. "Its a great thing for her and for the NBA. I am still so thankful to John Lucas for giving me the opportunity to work with his NBA team during my time with the Cleveland Rockers. His staff and players welcomed me as a coach, and it was an incredible experience for me to spend that season with them." Last season, Hammon attended Spurs practices, film sessions and sat behind the bench at home game after suffering a torn ACL that kept her from playing. Shes been friends with Tony Parker and Tim Duncan since competing in an NBA All-Star shooting competition in 2008, a familiarity that will help as she makes her transition to coaching the two stars. "As far as women coaching men, its really silly. People ask me all the time, will there ever be a woman player in the NBA?" Hammon said. "To be honest, no. There are differences. The guys are too big, too strong and thats just the way it is. "But when it comes to things of the mind, things like coaching, game-planning, coming up with offensive and defensive schemes, theres no reason why a woman couldnt be in the mix and shouldnt be in the mix." Its been a long time coming for female basketball players and coaches who have long dreamed of getting a chance in the NBA. "I was so excited and pleased and the one thing that people have to remember is that the San Antonio Spurs dont do anything for effect," said Nancy Lieberman, a former star player who was a head coach in the NBA Development League in 2009 and now serves as the GM of the Texas Legends. "Thats not who they are. They dont do this for the record-breaking barrier. They do things out of respect. "And the fact that coach Popovich has this much respect for Beckys basketball IQ, for how she handles herself with the guys in practice, her ability to relate to them, Im sure he saw so much when she was working with them last fall. Im sure he didnt hire her because she was a woman. Im sure he hired her because she was the best person for the job." "This will open the door for other women, even like myself," Lieberman added. "My goal is to coach in the NBA and youve got to start somewhere. So this is a great day." Charlotte Hornets sideline reporter Stephanie Ready, who served as an assistant on the Coppin State mens team as well as in the D-League, called Popovich the perfect person to hire Hammon "because hes proven he has a tremendous track record and he does not make bad decisions." "Thats the first step, having the precedent set is very important," Ready said. "A lot of it also is now women will know these jobs are available. In the past, a lot of women probably didnt try because they didnt think it was possible. I think you may very well see an increase in seeing some females hired." Hammon has a reputation of being a smart, hard-nosed, tough-minded player. She made six All-Star teams and averaged 13.1 points in her 16 seasons with the Stars and New York Liberty. Hammon was receiving congratulatory messages from all over, including from Lieberman, Boyer and Lakers star Kobe Bryant. "I love seeing people Ive been involved with have an opportunity in life to have these types of experiences," said Stars coach Dan Hughes, who has coached Hammon for eight years. "This one is unique. Shes ready for it, shell do a great job." Even tennis great Billie Jean King weighed in on the hire, congratulating the Spurs for acquiring "a key person based on their qualifications and not allowing gender to play a role in their decision." But like it was only a matter of time before a woman got a chance to coach in the NBA, its also only a matter of time before said coach finds herself in Popovichs crosshairs. "Im sure Pop will be yelling at me soon enough," Hammon said, "with the rest of them." Wholesale Ravens Jerseys . New Zealand brushed aside England 26-7 to win the event and reclaim top spot in the overall standings. The All Blacks, the defending World Series champions, won their third tournament this season in style, running four tries past England to claim their 11th Cup championship in Hong Kong and first since 2011. Baltimore Ravens Jerseys China . When New Zealand finally held on for an 8-7 win, France No. 8 Imanol Harinordoquy collapsed to the ground, having given every drop of energy he could muster, and lay prone as All Blacks danced around him in celebration. Few critics had given France any chance, but coach Marc Lievremonts team rallied from 8-0 down and came within one kick of taking the lead with 15 minutes remaining, only for flyhalf Francois Trinh-Ducs 49-meter effort to drift wide. http://www.cheapravensjerseysauthentic.c...e-flacco-jersey. His absence against the Celtics comes a day after he scored 43 points in the Heats 100-96 win at Cleveland. Jaylon Ferguson Jersey . According to a release sent by the league, the Saskatchewan Roughriders were the only team to exceed the cap. Their total salary expenditure of $4,417,975 was $17,975 over the salary cap of $4. Cheap Baltimore Ravens Jerseys . -- Hal Steinbrenner says Alex Rodriguez is "a great player" and "obviously an asset," but the New York Yankees managing general partner wouldnt discuss the third basemans possible return to the team following a season-long suspension.LONDON -- Surprise package Southampton was brought back down to earth by Arsenal as the Gunners extended their Premier League lead to four points with a 2-0 win over the Saints and Liverpool was held to a 3-3 draw at Everton in a pulsating Merseyside derby on Saturday. Arsene Wengers team bounced back from defeat against defending champion Manchester United with a dominant display, capped by two goals from Olivier Giroud -- the first after Southampton goalkeeper Artur Boruc bizarrely lost the ball to the France striker in the box. At Goodison Park, substitute Daniel Sturridge salvaged a deserved draw for the Reds before Chelsea reasserted its title credentials with a 3-0 win at West Ham. Arsenal leads both Liverpool and Chelsea by four points after 12 games, with Liverpool in second place on goals scored. Also, last-place Crystal Palace reacted to the hiring of Tony Pulis as manager by beating Hull 1-0 to climb off the bottom and Fulham lost 2-1 at home against Swansea, dropping into the bottom three. Newcastle beat Norwich 2-1 and Stoke won 2-0 against Sunderland, which replaced Crystal Palace at the foot of the standings. "Im very happy because we were against a good team and they showed why they made good results before," Wenger said after giving Southampton its second league loss this season. "We couldnt take our chances but we took advantage of their mistakes. Its a very good win against a difficult team. They stopped us well from playing." Arsenal was sluggish at the start but then dominated before Boruc lost the ball after trying to dribble past Giroud, who easily won the ball before scoring from close range. "It happens. Players are quick to close down. Maybe he was a bit too confident and Olivier Giroud did very well," Wenger said. Southampton has been praised for its free-flowing football this season but struggled against Arsenal. The Saints played as high on the pitch and pressed as usual but failed to create clear-cut chances. Frank Lampard made life difficult for his former club, scoring twice at Upton Park as Chelsea played with great pace and discipline to move above Southampton into third. Lampard opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the 21st minute after West Ham keeper Jussi Jaaskelainen brought down Oscar in the box. The Brazil midfielder then combined well with playmaker Eden Hazard and slotted home with a low shot from the edge of the box for a superb goal in the 34th. Lampard sealed Chelseas win, scoring from a rebound from inside the penalty area in the 82nd. Liverpool had plenty of chances in a thrilling Merseyide deerby which they came close to losing for the first time since October 2010.dddddddddddd But Sturridge equalized with a glancing header from Steven Gerrards free kick just 10 minutes after coming off the bench to cap an action-packed game. The result left Liverpool four points behind Arsenal with 24 points from 12 games while Everton has 21, one point behind Southampton. Romelu Lukaku scored twice in the second half as Everton took a 3-2 lead. The Belgian forward thought he had given the three points to his team when he headed home in the 82nd minute, just 10 minutes after taking advantage of some confusion in the Liverpool box to slide the ball past goalkeeper Simon Mignolet. Philippe Coutinho opened the scoring in the fifth minute before Kevin Mirallas equalized for Everton three minutes later in a thrilling start. Luis Suarez put the Reds in front with a free kick in the 19th minute. "That is the best experience Ive ever had in club football. Its a pity we didnt win but hopefully we will next time," Lukaku said. Mirallas was lucky to escape a straight red card in the 33rd minute after an ugly foul on Suarez, with the Belgium forward stamping his studs on the strikers thigh. Suarez screamed in pain and stayed down on the pitch for several minutes but was able to return to the game. "It was a terrific game, Ive been involved in a few and they are real heart-stoppers," Liverpool coach Brendan Rodgers said. "We again showed our resilience and ability to fight back. This is a difficult place to come and they havent lost at Goodison Park this year." Stoke ended an eight-match winless streak against Sunderland, which had Wes Brown sent off in controversial circumstances. The hosts scored either side of the interval at the Britannia stadium with goals from Charlie Adam and Steven Nzonzi. Sunderland players were furious after referee Kevin Friend deemed a sliding tackle from Brown on Adam -- that appeared to win the ball fairly for the defender -- to merit a straight red card in the 36th minute. Substitute Jonjo Shelvey scored a late winner to give Swansea a 2-1 victory over Fulham, leaving the London club struggling in the relegation zone. At Hull, Palace overcame the 78th-minute sending-off of Yannick Bolasie to score the only goal three minutes later, with Barry Bannan netting from close range following Cameron Jeromes cross. Caretaker manager Keith Millen hands over to Pulis with Palace now above Sunderland on goal difference, and the new coachs record of never having been relegated will give the Londoners renewed hope of staying up. 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