The San Antonio Spurs can add another championship to their already overflowing trophy case of awards and accolades. No, it wasn’t one that most people even watched, but it just may carry the greatest significance.

Last summer head coach Gregg Popovich was searching for a new assistant head coach before the start of the season. Popovich cast a wide net amongst coaching candidates but knew that he was looking for a person who was as much a player’s coach as an X’s and O’s guru like himself.

After interviewing dozens of candidates, he made the announcement on Aug. 5 that Becky Hammon would be brought on as an assistant coach to one of the NBA‘s most successful franchises.

Hammon’s hiring made her the first salaried female coach in NBA history, proving once again that Pop is always thinking outside the box when it comes to his squad. Most fans knew little or nothing about Hammon before the hiring, but she was one of most talented point guards the WNBA has ever seen. Hammon spent 16 years in the best women’s professional basketball league in the world, averaging 13.0 points, 3.8 assists, 2.5 rebounds and 1.1 steals per game.

Much of her on-court success came from her innate ability to understand the game and in turn get the players around her to understand it better themselves. Like many of the great PGs the NBA has seen throughout its history, Hammon was a floor general who fluidly could direct traffic on the floor while instantaneously making adjustments on the fly. The final eight years of Hammon’s career were spent in San Antonio playing for the San Antonio Stars. Not only did she have a hometown connection with the city of San Antonio, but she fit perfectly in the Popovich school of thought when it came to coaching philosophy.

After being an integral part of a Spurs team that again made the playoffs for what seems like the hundredth year in a row, Popovich turned the reigns completely over to Hammon, making her the head coach of the Spurs’ summer league team in Vegas. What did Hammon do at the helm of the Spurs?

Exactly what Popovich has so often done with the regular season team: win a championship. On Monday night, the Spurs defeated the Phoenix Suns and Hammon held the trophy amongst the youngest members of the Spurs organization who hope to continue the winning tradition in the years to come.

Our nomination for the face of the $10 bill: @spurs assistant coach @BeckyHammon. pic.twitter.com/Pmf4G0aOYh

— The Players’ Tribune (@PlayersTribune) July 21, 2015

Her Summer League championship was indicative of just how much sports are changing in 2015. Gender barriers are no longer rigid blockades but more like revolving doors that can be moved or manipulated with a simple push. While Hammon is still on the books for the Spurs as an assistant coach for the upcoming season, it feels like it’s only a matter of time before she becomes the first full-fledged female head coach of an NBA franchise. GMs and owners no longer see Hammon as a woman first, but rather an A+ student of the franchise that is the envy of every team in the league.

After the championship game, her players raved about her ability to relate to them and motivate them to perform at the highest level, describing her as a true player’s coach. For now Hammon can revel in her first championship as a coach, but you can be sure she will be looking for bigger and better things in the future — and she deserves them.

Douglas Ammon is an NBA Featured Writer for www.RantSports.com. Who covers all things about the Association, follow him on Twitter @DA76er