When the San Antonio Spurs take the court Saturday to open the Las Vegas Summer League, they’ll be led by a familiar face. No, Greg Popovich isn’t taking time out of his summer to coach the summer league team. Instead, the Spurs will be led by former WNBA great and current Spurs assistant Becky Hammon.

Popovich gave Hammon the spot earlier this summer, putting her in position to be the first female head coach of an NBA Summer League team.

“I think the Spurs are always thinking outside the box,” Hammon said. “I’m glad Pop didn’t really care if I was a boy or a girl. He just said, ‘Ok, this mind knows basketball. Let’s bring that mind on board.’ The anatomy didn’t matter.”

Hammon enjoyed a long career in the WNBA, spending time with the New York Liberty and the San Antonio Stars, where she finished her career in 2014. She’s seventh on the WNBA all-time scoring list, fourth in assists and was named to six WNBA All-Star teams.

She spent some time in the booth calling games on television, but ultimately felt like coaching was where she belonged once her career ended. After an ACL injury ended her 2013 season early, Hammon spent time around the Spurs organization – in meetings and practices – and was often asked for input.

Popovich jumped at the opportunity to bring her in as an assistant last August, making Hammon the first full-time female coach in NBA history. Now, as she enters her second season on the sidelines, she’s getting an opportunity to hone her coaching skills working with the Spurs Summer League squad.

“The other reason why I want to get into coaching,” said Hammon, “is that I just think the impact you can have on peoples’ lives, touching people in an everyday experience. When I thought of people who have impacted my life the most, it was coaches. It was teammates. It was family and friends. It wasn’t anybody on TV. That’s not to say TV doesn’t have great impact, but in my personal experience, it was the people on the daily that impacted me the most.”

As for the task at hand, Hammon is focused on getting the most out of the group of players trying to impress Spurs personnel during the two-week tournament.

“We just want to give them a foundation to build off,” Hammon said. “From the first day we brought them into practice, you can already see great growth. Hopefully we can keep that trend going. We want to keep growing and keep progressing in the right direction, and hopefully for this Summer League team, our best basketball is still out in front of us, but we’re still, obviously, a work in progress.”

The Spurs will face the New York Knicks on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. ET. All games can be watched online with NBA Summer League Live. To purchase NBA Summer League Live, click here.