There may be no person more respected in women’s basketball than Dawn Staley. As a player at the University of Virginia, she won two Naismith Player of the Year awards and led the Cavaliers to three Final Fours, winning an NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player award in 1991. She played eight seasons in the WNBA and was a five-time All-Star, and as a coach, she’s built South Carolina into a three-time national champ and the preeminent program in the country.
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Staley is also a tireless advocate for the women’s game, and has gone out of her way to praise players and coaches around the country and in the WNBA. She’s a big reason why women’s basketball has continued to gain in popularity in recent years.
Staley was born and raised in Philadelphia and spent eight years coaching at Temple. The City of Brotherly Love is getting a WNBA expansion team in 2030, and there’s no better person to be involved than her.
Kylie Kelce knows a thing or two about being one of Philadelphia’s favorite daughters, and she spoke to Wanda Sykes on the most recent episode of Not Gonna Lie about their excitement over the new franchise, and about how incredible it would be for Staley to be involved part of the franchise in some capacity.
“How do we get her involved?” Kelce asked. “‘I did ask her if she would coach it, I did put that out there. She said that she would prefer to be on the ownership side, which I totally get, but is there a way that we can get her in there?”
Sykes pointed out that no matter what happens, we all know that Staley will support the team and show up to games, but the ladies said they’d settle for getting some South Carolina players to play for Philly, which would allow the Gamecocks to function as a feeder program of sorts.
Staley has toyed with the idea of coaching in the pros before. She interviewed with the Knicks this summer and said she would have taken the job if offered, but she didn’t seem interested in coaching in the WNBA when Kelce asked her about it back in June, saying, “I would rather be an owner. I think there’s much more to ownership. If I’m an owner, I think I can touch more people.”
Kelce herself has floated the idea that she’d be interested in joining the ownership group, saying in July, “If you need additional female investors, maybe call me.” She also has ideas for players, naming Philly natives Natasha Cloud and Kahleah Copper as potential targets to bring home. She’s not an owner yet, so it’s not tampering!
Philly has never had a WNBA team before, but if the city is half as passionate as it is in supporting its other teams, then this could be something special.
The WNBA is expanding at a rapid pace amid its heightened popularity. The Golden State Valkyries, who were added this past season, were just the beginning, as Toronto and Portland are both getting teams next year. Then comes Cleveland in 2028, Detroit in 2029 and Philly in 2030.
The Philadelphia franchise is owned by Josh Harris, who also owns the 76ers, the Washington Commanders of the NFL and the New Jersey Devils of the NHL. He’s a busy man, but he’d be smart to get Kelce and Staley on the phone to make something happen.
