Stephanie Ready to Become 1st Full-Time Female Analyst in NBA History

Stephanie Ready is set to pave another new path as she becomes the first female to hold a full-time game analyst position with an NBA team. She will work alongside Eric Collins and Dell Curry for the Charlotte Hornets on Fox Sports Southeast after previously serving as the team's sideline reporter.

Cory McCartney of Fox Sports Carolinas reports Ready, who broke ground by becoming the first female coach of a men's professional league team in 2001 with the NBDL's Greenville Groove, is reaching her ultimate TV goal.

"This is actually the reason I got into television in the first place," Ready said. "I always wanted to be a game analyst. I have a passion for the game of basketball and being a coach you teach the game and you learn how to explain the game to people who may not understand it. I thought being a game analyst on television would be perfect, because that's what you get to do."

Along with coaching in the NBDL, the Maryland native served as one of the first female assistant coaches in Division I college basketball at Coppin State. The report notes she also attained the role of full-time recruiting assistant, another first.

"I didn't set out to blaze a trail or be the first," she said. "It just naturally came because of the work that I was doing. Having said that though, I think that things happen for a reason and that there's some people that may not be ready to be the first to do something because there's a lot that comes with that."

Curry, a Hornets legend who's worked with Ready in recent years on the broadcasts, is confident his new color-commenting partner is ready for the challenge, per McCartney.

"She knows the game very well. She knows the players. She knows strategy, plays," Curry said. "As an ex-player, whether you're male or female, if you're an ex-player, you should know your craft and she definitely does."

It's the latest step in the long-awaited breakthrough for women getting more involved in nearly every aspect of men's professional sports.

Becky Hammon became a full-time assistant for the San Antonio Spurs before last season. In July, she was handed the reins of the team's NBA Summer League squad in Las Vegas and guided the group to a championship.

In the NFL, Jen Welter recently became the league's first female coach while working with the Arizona Cardinals' inside linebackers. The NFL also hired Sarah Thomas as its first full-time female official in April.

Those are a lot of firsts in a relatively short time period. Of course, it's really more a case of making up for lost time as females gain their positions in the same way men did for so many years: by earning their stripes and working up the ladder.

Ready has spent more than a decade working on the Hornets telecasts. Combine that with her basketball coaching knowledge, and she should make a seamless transition into the new role.