For women to successfully hold top positions within NBA teams seems like a thought far-fetched, but the world is changing, and their talents are recognized more in the elite basketball circles than they were over the last two decades. But is the sport quite ready to have a woman in charge of an NBA team on the hardcourt? Dawn Staley doubts that.
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Staley’s achievements as a basketball coach cannot be downplayed. After hanging up her basketball shoes as a six-time WNBA All-Star, she won three NCAA Division 1 Championships and got to the Finals a total of seven times. She’s hugely respected, so much so that the New York Knicks, who were in search of a replacement for Tom Thibodeau after the 2024/25 season, considered her for the role.
Staley, in an appearance on All the Smoke, revealed her connection to Knicks President Leon Rose, how she reacted to being shortlisted for the Knicks Head Coach position, and how things unfolded thereafter.
“I’ve known Leon for 30 years… Leon called me, and I’m like, ‘What’s up?’ and he’s like, ‘I’m thinking about, I want to bring you in the interview,’ and I’m like, ‘Come on Leon, stop…”
Staley soon understood that Rose was being serious about the Knicks’ role, but was confused as to why the President wanted her. She asked him that up front, and Rose showed him the book, which contained all the reports that stated she was the right person for the job and “had everything that we need”.
Rose told Staley that she was collaborative with people, and was good at the basketball part of the job — two things the Knicks absolutely needed to build on their trip to the Eastern Conference Finals last season.
So, Staley went for the interview. It was longer than six hours, and they discussed ideas and plans for how to make the team better. But the problem was when Staley asked questions to the Knicks’ higher-ups. They didn’t know how to respond.
“I actually asked them some questions and I thought the questions that I asked them…they didn’t really know the answers. Because it’s not normal questions for them,” Staley continued. “Like, how would me being Knicks coach affect your job….”
“Being a woman, being a black woman… a three-game losing streak, a five-game losing streak is different if I am the coach… It would be more about a female coach, more about anything other than ‘is she qualified, is she like all of those things, not their norm.'”
Staley opined that the Knicks were simply not ready to have a female head coach. In fact, in the NBA, hiring one would be a huge change in landscape, something for which teams have to prepare beforehand.
The Knicks ultimately hired Mike Brown as Thibodeau’s replacement, and Staley continued her role as Head Coach of South Carolina Gamecocks.
