Los Angeles, United States —Becky Hammon will coach the San Antonio Spurs' Las Vegas summer league team, becoming the first female head coach in the NBA developmental programme.

The Spurs named Hammon  as the head coach for the team that will play in Las Vegas, beginning with a game against a New York Knicks summer league squad.

Hammon worked last season as an assistant under Spurs coach Gregg Popovich in San Antonio, where she was the second woman to join a regular-season NBA coaching staff.

She was the first woman to coach in the NBA since Lisa Boyer served as a part-time assistant with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2001-02.

Her move to the Spurs coaching ranks followed a 16-year playing career in the WNBA.

The summer leagues in Las Vegas and Salt Lake City feature mostly young players trying to break into the NBA.

Natalie Nakase was as an assistant coach in the summer league for the Los Angeles Clippers in 2014, but Hammon will be the first female head coach.