Candice Dupree: Breaking Barriers the Spurs Way

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Candice Dupree on the court
Ron Hoskins/NBAE via Getty Images

The Spurs roster isn’t the only thing undergoing some changes. The organization is also adding new names to the coaching staff, starting with former WNBA player Candice Dupree.

The 2006 first-round pick has just been hired as the new assistant coach for the Spurs under Coach Gregg Popovich. Dupree is a name you may have not heard often during her run as a professional athlete. That’s because she is known as a humble beast when it comes to dominating the sport.

Dupree holds rewards as the top 5th scorer in WNBA history, 7-time All-Star, a WNBA champion, and a 2-time gold medalist with Team USA. She has also taken her talents overseas to countries like Russia, Europe, and China. However, for Candice her career was never about the accolades it was about remaining an efficient and consistent player.

She kept a  low profile in the media while playing professionally. Not being discussed in the media was what made her special. She worked in silence, did her job, and executed it well for 16 years. 

Now she follows in the footsteps of former assistant coach to the Spurs, Becky Hammon. This will be Dupree’s first coaching gig alongside the winningest coach of all time, Gregg Popovich.

When Hammon was selected as the first female assistant coach in NBA history with the organization; Pop expressed he was “confident in her basketball IQ, work ethic and interpersonal skills”.

So it comes as no shock that the head coach would continue to break barriers and select yet another female to stand alongside him. With the mindset of hiring based on quality and not gender the possibility to provide the best direction for the players can become endless.

Since putting up her assistant coaching hat with the Spurs Hammon is wearing a new hat as the head coach of the WNBA team; the Las Vegas Aces. During her rookie year, she became coach of the year while leading the Aces to the WNBA Championships and winning it all.

When seeing the victory Hammon was able to accomplish one can only imagine what Dupree could do in the years to come. 

Dupree’s ability to remain humble, level-headed, and consistent as a player in her career is what makes her a good fit for the Spurs Organization. She has a real heart for the next generation of athletes coming up.

Dupree has been vocal about her desire to make her younger teammates and fellow professional players better while being a full-time athlete herself. That urge to create knowledgeable, non-egotistical, hard-working athletes will translate well into the culture already developed here in San Antonio.

We are aware the Spurs are known for being traditional and playing mostly fundamental basketball. Those standards are not far off from Duprees desire to bring back some classic style of play. Not only that, but character development as a player and person as well 

Dupree takes her job as a mom off the court just as seriously as her job on the court. She has twin daughters whom she speaks highly of all the time.

In the Red Diamond Report Podcast Candice was asked “Who is Candice Dupree Now?” for her, being a mom comes first. She also speaks of enjoying newly acquired downtime she’s been able to fill with moments with her daughters.

Part of the reason she feels comfortable taking time from playing professionally is that she gets to spend more of those minutes with them. I wouldn’t be surprised to see them courtside in spurs gear soon alongside their mom on this new journey as the assistant coach to our San Antonio Spurs 

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