Stephen A. Smith makes bold statement backing Becky Hammon among NBA's elite coaches

In today's NBA, there is a wide range of elite-level coaching. While on ESPN, Stephen A. Smith touched on one person he feels would join those ranks if given the opportunity.

In honor of International Women's Day, Stephen A. broke down his list of trailblazing women in sports. Among the names mentioned was coach/analyst Becky Hammon. He went on say that Hammon would be one of the NBA's top coaches if an organization brought her on.

"Becky Hammon right now can coach an NBA team and would be one of the elite coaches in the game," Stephen A. said. "She's that great."

Some of the other women Stephen A. named includes Serena Williams, Billie Jean King and University of South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley.

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Has Becky Hammon ever coached in the NBA?

Becky Hammon worked in the league for nearly a decade, but never as a head coach. She spent eight seasons with the San Antonio Spurs as an assistant under Gregg Popovich. Hammon made history with this position, as she was the first full-time female head coach.

After her time with the Spurs, Hammon decided to move on and accepted a coaching gig in the WNBA. Since taking over as coach of the Las Vegas Aces, they have slowly begun to form a dynasty.

In her first season as coach, the Aces went 26-10 in the regular season before going on to win the WNBA title. They followed that up by going 34-6 and repeating as champions.

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Gregg Popovich had high praise for Becky Hammon during time with Spurs

While some might feel what Stephen A. Smith said was a bold take, Becky Hammon has gotten high praise from one of the best coaches ever. Gregg Popovich spoke highly of her abilities on multiple occasions during her time with the San Antonio Spurs.

As an assistant coach, she got to help coach the Summer League teams every year. He once touched on what she brought to the table that led to her getting a full-time assistant job on his staff.

"I hired her because she was in my coaches meetings for an entire year because she was injured," Popovich said. "She's got opinions and solid notions about basketball. Obviously, she was a great player. As a point guard, she's a leader, she's fiery, she's got intelligence, and our guys just respected the heck out of her, so she's coaching with us, she's running drills. That's why we made her a full-time coach and gave her the opportunity to coach at summer league."

Before getting into coaching, Hammon played eight seasons in the WNBA. She was a six-time All-Star and posted averages of 13.0 points, 2.5 rebounds and 3.8 assists.