Becky Hammon is used to betting on herself — even when no one else would.

The Las Vegas Aces coach finished her college career as the most prolific scorer in the history of the Colorado State program, but she went undrafted by the WNBA in 1999.

“I’m disappointed but the battle’s not over,” Hammon said at the time. “It’s not going to end up a sad story.”

Hammon would go on to have a Hall of Fame playing career, with the New York Liberty and the San Antonio Stars, the franchise that later became the Aces. A six-time WNBA All-Star, she was named to the WNBA’s 15th, 20th and 25th anniversary teams.

Before taking the head coaching job in Las Vegas before the 2022 season, she became the first person to have her number retired by the franchise.

“It’s one of the biggest honors as an athlete that you can have,” she said. “You never know when you show up everyday and go to work. I had no idea. I was undrafted, played 16 years, and I wasn’t supposed to be here but here I am.”

She went on to coach in the NBA, spending eight years as an assistant for the San Antonio Spurs. Many saw her as a possible successor to Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, who attended the Aces’ win in Game 2 of the WNBA Finals on Tuesday night.

“I always do what she says,” Popovich told the Aces after the game, which put them one win away from the first title in franchise history.

“You don’t need me, that’s for sure,” Popovich continued. “But it’s been great watching you guys play. It’s been great watching you on TV and the way you execute, the way you play physically, it’s just beautiful to watch. You just play great basketball.”

Coach Pop with the special guest appearance ❤️🖤@BeckyHammon // @spurs pic.twitter.com/DYMm03PsDL

— Las Vegas Aces (@LVAces) September 14, 2022

Hammon interviewed for NBA head coaching jobs on multiple occasions while with the Spurs, but she was never offered a position

“I sat in a lot of head coaching interviews,” Hammon said after being hired by Las Vegas. “Two things that people always said: ‘You’ve only been in San Antonio, and you’ve never been a head coach.’ Well, Mark Davis met me. Nikki met me. And they said, ‘That’s a head coach right now.’”

And in her first year as a head coach, she’s proved both Davis, the team owner, and Nikki Fargas, the team president, right. And she’s proved every single NBA executive who passed over her for a head coaching gig wrong.

In her first season as a head coach, Hammon has the Aces on the verge of a title. But that’s not all she’s done this year.

She led Las Vegas to the best record in the league at 26-10 and the No. 1 seed in the WNBA playoffs, earning her Coach of the Year honors in her debut campaign. She’s the first former player to win the honor in her first season and the third overall.

Under Hammon, the Aces set a franchise record for wins in a single season. She also recorded the second-best winning percentage ever by a rookie head coach. She led the team to a Commissioner’s Cup championship in July and was one of the coaches for the WNBA All-Star game.

Now she has her sights set on yet another accolade: a WNBA championship.

“It’s about putting these ladies in a position to win a championship. That’s been my focus,” Hammon said following the Game 2 win.

“That’s why I took the job. I felt they had the talent to do it and I felt that I could build the relationships and build the culture in the right way for us to put ourselves in a position to be able to win a championship. Like I said before, we haven’t won anything yet. All we did was take care of home court, what we are supposed to do.

“I’m used to people not picking me — I don’t know if you’re aware. I just do me.”

Cameron Brink already has her rookie of the year pick for the upcoming WNBA season, and it’s Indiana-bound star Caitlin Clark. 

In the latest edition of Kelley on the Street, host Kelley O'Hara caught up with Brink in New York hours before the Stanford phenom went No. 2 overall to the Los Angeles Sparks at the 2024 WNBA Draft. When O’Hara asked who would win the WNBA's rookie of the year, she answered without pause.

"Caitlin Clark," she said, while a fan commented that she thought Brink would take home the award. Brink later added that the extra foul granted to WNBA players will be "good for me."

"I hope it’s me," Charisma Osborne, who was later drafted by the Phoenix Mercury, said when asked her ROY prediction. "But, I don’t know — we’ll see."

Watch more of Kelley on the Street:

Maria Sanchez issued a statement on Thursday, confirming recent reports that she has requested a trade from the Houston Dash. 

In it, she revealed that the club has been aware of the request "since late March."

"This has all taken a toll and isn’t an easy thing to talk about, but I want to confirm that I’ve requested an immediate trade," she wrote. "My expectations and reasons have been clear. I trust that my current club’s management will honor my decision in a timely manner and proceed with accepting a trade."

"I’m eager to refocus and dive back into what I love most: playing football," she concluded.

Thank you, everyone, for the outpouring of kindness and support. pic.twitter.com/gcnN7dhCJU

— Maria Sanchez (@Maria17_7) April 19, 2024

Reports of Sanchez's trade request first surfaced on ESPN last week, and were later confirmed by multiple sources. 

In December of last year, Sanchez signed a three-year contract with the Dash valued at $1.5 million including bonuses and an option year. It was the largest contract in NWSL history at the time — a figure that would be eclipsed by multiple contracts in the following months. 

Sanchez spent the offseason as a restricted free agent, meaning that Houston could match any other team's offer to retain her rights. Should the Dash trade Sanchez, her current contract terms would remain intact, limiting potential buyers to teams able to afford to take on an inking of that size.

The Dash has yet to address the trade, instead reiterating to ESPN that Sanchez is "under contract, a choice she made in free agency at the end of 2023." 

Both the NWSL trade window and transfer window close tonight, April 19th, at 12 a.m. ET. The window will stay closed through the next 11 regular season games, reopening on August 1st, 2024.

The four-time league champion Seattle Storm unveiled their new practice facility on Thursday, with Storm co-owner Lisa Brummel dubbing Interbay's Seattle Storm Center for Basketball Performance the team’s "new home."

"It's just such a special space," Brummel told Fox 13 Seattle. "I think when the players get here, it's gonna be overwhelming."

The sprawling 50,000-square-foot, $64 million property is just the second designated practice facility to be designed and built expressly for a WNBA team, with the Storm further noting that 85% of all design and engineering team members involved in the project's construction were women and people of color. The finished product holds two professional indoor courts, two 3x3 outdoor courts, a state-of-the-art locker room, and players' lounge, plus designated areas for strength and conditioning, kitchen, dining, and nutrition, and recovery. 

"This facility reflects our commitment to providing our athletes an exceptional environment that supports their growth, health, and performance," said Storm co-owner Ginny Gilder in an official team release. "It’s built for women, by women, embodying our dedication to leading the way in professional women’s sports."

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For their part, the team can't wait to make the faciilty their own.

"It's amazing," Storm guard Jewell Loyd told Fox 13. "Not having to drive everywhere around, knowing you have access anytime of the day to get into the gym, to workout." 

Head coach Noelle Quinn said she predicts the team is "never going to leave this building."

"Which is a good thing for me," she continued. "You talk about having an edge in performance. We want our athletes to not only perform on the court, but get whatever they need."

All of the Storm's staff and operations will now live under one roof, and the team also has plans to launch a youth basketball program operating out of the building.

The Caitlin Clark effect is quickly making its mark on the big leagues, as WNBA host teams around the country rush to upgrade their Fever games to larger arenas in order to accommodate surging ticket sales.

With Clark mere weeks away from her Indiana Fever debut, both the Las Vegas Aces and Washington Mystics have officially relocated their scheduled home games with head coach Christie Sides' squad. On Thursday, the Mystics became the latest to adjust their plans, moving their June 7th matchup from Entertainment & Sports Arena in Southwest DC to the more centrally located — and much larger — Capital One Arena "due to unprecedented demand."

The Mystics home court's capacity taps out at 4,200, while Capital One Arena — home to the Wizards, Capitals, and Georgetown Hoya's Men's Basketball — can fit nearly five times that crowd at some 20,000 spectators.

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"The move to Capital One Arena will allow for additional fans in the stands as well as premium hospitality options, including Suites and the all-new all-inclusive courtside Hennessy Lofts," the team announced via Thursday's press release.

The Aces were one of the first teams to switch venues, aiming to take on the Indiana Fever in front of as many as 20,000 fans inside T-Mobile Arena on July 2nd. That’s a sizable a boost from their home venue, which holds just 12,000.

For those still planning to face the Fever in their home arenas, ticket prices have skyrocketed. Previously scheduled construction has already forced the LA Sparks to relocate their first five games — including their May 24th clash with the Fever — to Long Beach State's Walter Pyramid. The temporary venue is quite the downsize, holding just 4,000 in comparison to Crypto.com Arena's near-19,000. As of Friday, the get-in price for that game started around $400.

Despite fans launching a Change.org petition urging relocation, the Chicago Sky say they're unable to move their June 23rd Fever meeting from Wintrust Arena's 10,000-seat facility to the 23,500-seat United Center due to a concert. Tickets for that game start around $325 as of Friday.