# How many women have won the NBA championship? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** basketball-nba\ **Created:** [June 22, 2025, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-women-have-won-the-nba-championship/1019991 "2025-06-22T23:35:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2025, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-women-have-won-the-nba-championship/1019991/1 "2025-06-22T23:35:31Z")
Indiana Pacers assistant coach Jenny Boucek is attempting to win the NBA championship tonight. How many women have won the NBA championship as coaches? How about as owners? ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2025, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-women-have-won-the-nba-championship/1019991/2 "2025-06-22T23:41:44Z")
I don’t think there has ever been a full-time female head coach of an NBA team. I think Becky Hammon was the first woman to serve as a head coach in an NBA game when she took over for the San Antonio Spurs during a 2015 preseason game after head coach Gregg Popovich was ejected. As for owners there are a few: - **Jeanie Buss** is the controlling owner and president of the Los Angeles Lakers, having taken control of the team after her father Jerry Buss passed away in 2013. In 2020 the Lakers won the championship (I think that is the only time a team owned by a woman has won a championship). - **Jody Allen** owns the Portland Trail Blazers. She inherited the team after her brother Paul Allen, Microsoft co-founder, died in 2018. - **Gayle Benson** owns the New Orleans Pelicans. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2025, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-women-have-won-the-nba-championship/1019991/3 "2025-06-22T23:43:49Z")
Yes, I meant to say, as assistant coach or trainer or someone on the bench staff. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2025, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-women-have-won-the-nba-championship/1019991/4 "2025-06-23T15:33:12Z")
I think many teams have women on the coaching staff, which are much larger than you see on the bench during a game. I know the Celtics have women on the staff now, not sure if they were there last year when the Celtics won the title. I’m sure they all got a ring. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2025, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-women-have-won-the-nba-championship/1019991/5 "2025-06-23T15:59:36Z")
Becky Hammon was an assistant coach for the Spurs for their 2014 title. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2025, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-women-have-won-the-nba-championship/1019991/6 "2025-06-23T17:36:57Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > **Buss** is the controlling owner and president of the Los Angeles Lakers, having taken control of the team after her father Jerry Buss passed away in 2013. In 2020 the Lakers won the championship (I think that is the only time a team owned by a woman has won a championship). Was. The team just sold and that’s no longer true although I think she still has a small piece of the team. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2025, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-women-have-won-the-nba-championship/1019991/7 "2025-08-25T17:20:49Z")
I found an answer to one of my questions. Pacers assistant coach Jenny Boucek was, in fact, the first female assistant coach in NBA Finals history. (And there have been no female head coaches, full stop, in the NBA). As, regrettably, the Pacers didn’t win the title, no women have won the title as coaches. > **[Pacers assistant coach Jenny Boucek reflects on making history in NBA Finals](https://www.nbcnews.com/sports/nba/pacers-jenny-boucek-nba-finals-rcna213976)** > > Boucek is the first woman to be a staff assistant coach on an NBA Finals team, but she insists that she's just focused on helping the team defeat the Thunder. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2025, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-women-have-won-the-nba-championship/1019991/8 "2025-08-25T17:39:50Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > Becky Hammon was an assistant coach for the Spurs for their 2014 title. No, she was hired immediately afterwards. The championship series was in June, she was hired in August.