Lisa Leslie is arguably the greatest player in WNBA history. She could do a bit of everything on the court, but one of her strongest traits was her basketball IQ. It seemed logical she would end up as a coach. However, after failing to land a couple of head coaching positions in the WNBA, she revealed she would no longer pursue it.
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Historically, it isn’t easy for women to break into male-dominated sports. However, Leslie has demonstrated her outstanding coaching skills which transcend the barrier of gender.
Leslie’s tenure in the BIG3 made her the second woman ever to serve as a head coach of a professional men’s team, and she remains the coach of the Triplets. Although she has closed the door to a return to the WNBA, she isn’t shutting down the possibility of being a head coach elsewhere.
However, that’s where the problem arises. In all of basketball (barring the WNBA), it’s been pretty rare to see a woman hold a head coaching job. There’ve been very few women to hold coaching positions in the NBA, and even when they do, it’s usually not a role that gets them a lot of publicity.
However, there are exceptions to every rule, and even in a largely male-dominated industry, coaches like Becky Hammon and Jenny Boucek have made a name for themselves. Hammon famously became the NBA’s first full-time female assistant coach, as a part of Gregg Popovich’s Spurs from 2014 to 2022.
She also coached the side’s summer league team in 2015 and led them to the title. In December 2020, Hammon made history as the first woman to serve as a head coach in an NBA game when Popovich was ejected. As of now, Hammon is a WNBA winning coach, having led the Las Vegas Aces to back-to-back titles in 2022 and 2023.
Boucek’s case is a bit different, but certainly not any less impressive. She has coached in both the NBA and the W, with stints at the Mavericks, Kings, and the Storm under her belt. Currently, she’s working as an assistant coach for the Indiana Pacers. In her time with the team, she’s handled both their offensive and defensive coordination and was a huge reason for their Eastern Conference Finals run last season.
Lisa Leslie’s foray into coaching
Following Leslie’s playing career, she couldn’t stay away from the game she loved. She made several guest appearances on ESPN and KABC-TV/Los Angeles as a sports analyst. But that didn’t satisfy the competitive fire she grew as a player, so she coached the Triplets of the BIG3 in 2019, impressively leading them to a 7-1 record and a championship in her first season.
Despite being named Coach of the Year in 2019, Leslie has yet to land another professional head coaching position. In a guest appearance on Angel Reese’s Unapologetically Angel Podcast, Leslie said she put her name in for two vacant head coaching positions ahead of this upcoming season.
Following a disappointing outcome, her motivation fizzled out. She said,
“I put my name in a hat for two teams to coach this year. I did not get picked. I felt like I would never make another attempt to go into coaching in the WNBA. You got to be 10 times great as a black woman in this industry.”
Lisa Leslie speaks on putting her name in for two WNBA teams and not getting picked 🤯
“I would never make another attempt.. you gotta be 10x as great as a black woman in this industry” pic.twitter.com/GZqk9yI4py
— 🧸. (@drippinnglo) February 13, 2025
Leslie refused to disclose which teams she was in conversations with. Her words suggest a feeling of dejection, but she seems to understand her circumstances.
Leslie believes some things—like becoming a WNBA head coach—just aren’t meant to happen, even though she feels she could do a better job than the people who were chosen. When examining her resume, she certainly has a case.
