Legendary South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley will be in the NBA someday; unfortunately, that day is not today.
During an appearance on current WNBA star Aliyah Boston and former WNBA star Candace Parker’s Post Moves podcast, Staley noted that she would have accepted the New York Knicks head coaching position if the organization offered it to her.
“I would have had to do it. Not just for me. For women,” Staley said. “I would have had to. It’s the New York Knicks. I’m from Philly. But it’s the freaking New York Knicks.”
The Knicks didn’t make the wave that they could have by hiring the first female NBA head coach, instead they decided to go with Mike Brown to succeed Tom Thibodeau, who was let go despite leading the Knicks to the Eastern Conference finals last season.
Staley, 55, is highly qualified for the position. She’s already a “member of the Basketball Hall of Fame after leading the Gamecocks to three NCAA championships and nine SEC titles,” USA Today reports.
She knows that NBA coaching would have been another ball game but she’s ready for it. She noted that she did well on the interview but believes she might have made a bit much of the historical decision the organization would be making by hiring her.
“How, if you hired me as the first female (head) coach in the NBA, would it impact your daily job? Because it would,” Staley said she asked Knicks officials. “You’re going to be asked questions that you don’t have to answer if you’re a male coach.
“I felt the energy change after that. So, I shot myself in the foot by … being inquisitive and asking all those darn questions.”
Staley’s coaching record is stellar, having begun her career in 2000 at Temple University and then leaving in 2008 to coach at South Carolina. Her coaching record is 647-190.
See social media’s reaction to the Knicks coaching drama below.
