“We’re trying to whoop each other’s butt.” The WNBAFinals coaching battle between Becky Hammon and Curt Miller has deep roots
As Aces coach Becky Hammon and Sun coach Curt Miller paced the same sideline during Game 1 of the 2022 WNBA Finals, the man integral to both of their journeys took in the contest from 2,000 miles away. Sitting at his home in Atlanta, Tom Collen watched the Aces claim a 1–0 series lead, doing so without a rooting interest. “It’s really hard for me to pick a side,” he says. No matter who emerges as this year’s champion, Collen will be pleased: “I’m gonna be a winner, one way or the other.
He still thinks of that group as “some of the greatest times of my life,” and recognizes that its success helped establish him in the coaching profession. “No matter how many mistakes I would make, Becky bailed me out of every bad decision,” he says. Both the Aces and Sun are looking to win their franchise’s first title, as Las Vegas holds a 2–0 series lead ahead of Thursday’s Game 3. But as the teams slug it out in the best-of-five, the bond between the coaches has been on display. A prime example came just over an hour before tip-off of the series opener, when Hammon stood at the podium to address reporters and threw a playful jab at her coaching foe.
“He was all of 5'8", but I would put him in there for a 10-minute scrimmage and he would lead both teams in rebounding,” Collen says.Now, he merely coaches hard, trying to bring the most out of his veteran group. Hammon is similarly animated—she said after Game 1 she was “lit” at halftime, with her team trailing 38–34. Neither star forward A’ja Wilson nor star guard Chelsea Gray wanted to share the exact language she used.
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