In an open letter about female coaches, Pau Gasol writes: “If you think I\u2019m writing this to argue why Becky is qualified to be an NBA head coach \u2026 well, you\u2019re mistaken. That part is obvious.”<\/p>\n
By Pau Gasol, San Antonio Spurs<\/strong><\/p>\n I want to tell you a little something about my parents.<\/p>\n I grew up just outside of Barcelona, a child of two highly successful professionals. My father was a nurse and my mother was a doctor. Naturally, I took to studying science \u2014 and after high school I even did one year of med school, before eventually devoting my time fully to basketball. I sometimes think about what would have happened if I had stuck with medicine and followed in my parents\u2019 footsteps.<\/p>\n I remember how people would often mistake my father as the doctor and my mom as the nurse \u2014 it happened more often than it should have, in my mind. To me, that my mother was a successful doctor \u2026 this was just the norm. And don\u2019t get me wrong: I admired my dad\u2019s hard work and job as well. But I grew up knowing that my mom got into a more rigorous school and program, and thus she had the more prominent job. That wasn\u2019t weird, or a judgment in any direction. It was just the truth. And we never really thought twice about it.<\/p>\n Growing up, my brothers and I always admired this standard set by our parents.<\/p>\n And now that I\u2019m an adult, and looking forward to being a parent in the near future myself, I realize even more how lucky I am to have been raised to that standard. It\u2019s a standard by which the only question worth asking \u2014 it isn\u2019t about if you\u2019re the right \u201ckind\u201d of person for your job. Rather, it\u2019s about how well equipped you are for the job. To me, she has always just been \u2026 a doctor. The reason I wanted to start by telling you about my parents, is that their story makes me think about today\u2019s NBA. Specifically about how, in the 72-year history of the league, there has never been a female head coach. Even more specifically, it makes me think of Becky Hammon: a coach who has been the topic of much conversation lately, and who I\u2019ve had the opportunity to play for in San Antonio.<\/p>\n But if you think I\u2019m writing this to argue why Becky is qualified to be an NBA head coach \u2026 well, you\u2019re mistaken. That part is obvious: One, she was an accomplished player \u2014 with an elite point guard\u2019s mind for the game. And two, she has been a successful assistant for arguably the greatest coach in the game. What more do you need? But like I said \u2014 I\u2019m not here to make that argument. Arguing on Coach Hammon\u2019s behalf would feel patronizing. To me, it would be strange if NBA teams were not interested in her as a head coach.<\/p>\n https:\/\/www.theplayerstribune.com\/en-us\/articles\/pau-gasol-becky-hammon<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In an open letter about female coaches, Pau Gasol writes: “If you think I\u2019m writing this to argue why Becky is qualified to be an NBA head coach \u2026 well, you\u2019re mistaken. That part is obvious.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/womensportinternational.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/345"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/womensportinternational.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/womensportinternational.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/womensportinternational.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/womensportinternational.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=345"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/womensportinternational.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/345\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":397,"href":"https:\/\/womensportinternational.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/345\/revisions\/397"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/womensportinternational.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=345"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/womensportinternational.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=345"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/womensportinternational.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nIn 37 years, I can honestly say, I\u2019ve never once thought of my mom as a \u201cfemale\u201d doctor.<\/p>\n
\nAnd a great one, too.<\/p>\n