Becky Hammon became the first woman to coach a major American professional men’s team on Wednesday. She led the San Antonio Spurs after head coach Gregg Popovich was ejected during a loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.
It was understandably a historic moment for women in sports.
It should really be viewed, however, as a historic moment for exploiting a stubborn market inefficiency in sports.
Celebrating a measure of equality and acknowledging Hammon’s individual talent and work ethic is great. What will truly change things, though, is the understanding that an entire industry is foolishly allowing past decisions to cloud future ones.