A perfectly conducted system in basketball is like classical music. Dozens of notes coming together to form a beautiful harmony–offense, defense, and individual brilliance shining through from time to time. It feels liberating, exciting, and fresh! And in the WNBA, there’s no one who knows this feeling better than Las Vegas Aces head coach Becky Hammon. In her three complete seasons with the team so far, Hammon has won two championships and created a winning culture worth talking about! But how did she cement her legacy so quickly?

The easy way to put it is that Hammon has an exquisite eye for talent and a brilliant basketball brain. After all, she spent time working under and learning from legendary coach Gregg Popovich when she was an assistant coach for the San Antonio Spurs. And he is still very much present in the scene. “The other day, I talked to him (Popovich) for an hour. He watches all our games,” she once said. “He tells me what he sees and what he thinks. That line of communication is very open.”

Hammon knows that building a roster isn’t just about the talent, it’s also about the chemistry and team dynamics. That Popovich-style accountability is visible, too, as guard Chelsea Gray said, “She is holding everyone accountable top to bottom.” Egos play a huge role in professional basketball, but somehow it seems like the Aces’ head coach has it all under control.

And even though she does have winning pieces, none more important than reigning MVP A’ja Wilson, her insights and influence over the team on both ends of the court are the glue behind the winning Aces. But her offensive and defensive systems aren’t what one would expect, to say the least.

During offense, the Aces’ head coach believes in structured autonomy for her players. Her philosophy has been the same since her very first practice with the team in April 2022, and it has shown results beyond measure! Players get the privilege of trusting their basketball instincts to make important game-time decisions. On the other end, they focus on getting stops and converting turnovers into possessions. 

But why did New York once copy her strategy of zone defense, as Plum shared, “I think people are starting to steal some of her stuff…People are taking some of our sets on offense, too. It’s great to see her making such an impact already.” And why should the other teams follow suit? She has the perfect answer.

The layers behind Becky Hammon’s championships

If anyone has trouble grasping Hammon’s coaching style, keep reading. “A lot of times as a head coach, you want to control everything. But there are some things that you can’t control, and you shouldn’t control.” The Las Vegas Aces head coach is known for the immense amount of trust that she places in her players. While other teams run set plays and practice them for hours on end, all Hammon wants is for her Aces to play good basketball. 

Offensively, she has created an orchestra that produces the most beautiful symphonies. In the “pace and space” system that Becky Hammon introduced, straying away from Laimbeer’s double-big strategies, there are three fundamental tenets to making the offense work: pace, space, and sharing. It is based on reaction, and making the correct read as often as possible. 

Hammon wants her offense running up-and-down the floor for 40 minutes, and for her shooters to create the space her bigs need to thrive. And it has worked wonders so far! In 2022, Hammon was named WNBA coach of the year, and the Aces were at the top of the league in both offensive and defensive ratings. And in 2024, their offensive rating remained quite stable at about 108, while their defensive rating was equally impressive at 101.

The Las Vegas Aces make sure to run down the court, make the extra pass, hustle for turnovers and rebounds, and take shots worth the effort. Or in the words of MVP Wilson, “We play really, really fast.” And it is not like the roster is star-dominated either! The bench is very deep in other ways, and everyone has their own role. Some players are there to push the pace, some are there to shoot the ball, and everyone knows their part to play!

And in terms of the defense? It is a team effort. They lost Liz Cambage in 2022, and it signaled a shift in strategy for the Aces. Before Hammon, they used to be big on paint protection through their double-big strategy, but after the six-foot-nine center’s departure, A’ja Wilson had to take a lot of the defensive burden. 

They focus heavily on rebounding and forcing bad shots. “We can’t run if we don’t rebound,” Hammon said in 2022. “It’s going to be a team effort for us.” But even for a relatively under-sized team, they do quite a nice job of defending the paint. The Aces led the league with 34.1 rebounds per game last year, showing just how tremendous their willpower is. 

Honestly, maintaining these layers while still going for an overall approach isn’t easy. But the no-nonsense approach is probably what’s working for her. “Honestly, it’s not like I’m setting out to do these things,” Hammon told WSLAM. “You show up, you work, you keep working, and you try to do your job to the best of your ability. And those other things just kind of take care of themselves.”

And while we have said a lot of things, there is no one better than her to sum it up.

“First thing that you have to do in building a championship culture is to set a tone of accountability. Bringing people together for a common goal that’s bigger than themselves, and then you’ve got to get the buy-in factor. My buy-in factor on each one of these women has been high, and I think they respond to me well. I try to be very clear with what their job is, what the expectation is,” Hammon said. “Then, everybody is held to the same line in the sense of, you know, nobody is shooting it over two, three people. Play the right way, and everybody wins, and when we win, everything else takes care of itself.”

Becky Hammon has completely changed the way the WNBA looks at offense and defense. Her coaching style, albeit quite simple, is the reason behind the Las Vegas Aces’ recent success. It will be interesting to see whether the Aces coach can figure out the competition this year, and if her team will be able to reach the promised land again. Stay tuned for all the action!