Before joining the WNBA coaching ranks for the 2022 season, Becky Hammon was already a trailblazer. At the conclusion of her 16-year pro playing career in 2014, San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, winner of five NBA titles, hired Hammon as the first full-time female assistant coach in NBA history. As San Antonio’s summer-league head coach in 2015, she won a championship. In 2020, Hammon became the first woman to serve as head coach in a game, taking over after Popovich got ejected. After interviewing for some NBA head-coaching jobs and not getting hired, she moved over to the W, where she has implemented more offensive spacing and a faster pace for the Las Vegas Aces and encouraged star A’ja Wilson to shoot more three-pointers. In three of Hammon’s first four seasons, Wilson has won the MVP award and the Aces have won the title, cementing them as a dynasty. Whether or not Hammon breaks one of the highest glass ceilings in sports—female head coach for a major men’s pro team—she’s one of the best to roam the sidelines. “I don’t need the stamp of approval from the NBA,” Hammon told TIME in 2023.