Will There Be A Woman Coaching An NBA Team Soon?

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver says he will work hard to assure that a woman will become head coach of an NBA team while he is in office. “The physical difference between men and women makes no difference in coaching a team,” he said. “It will happen sooner than later.”Four-time WNBA MVP Lisa Leslie agrees. “We can do anything,” she said. Either someone can coach or not. What difference does it make if it’s a man or a woman.’Leslie, a star at Morningside High and USC, played 12 years in the WNBA then progressed to an owner. She doesn’t comment on whether or not she might be head coach of an NBA team but said numerous women are qualified.

The list is headed by two women who are currently NBA assistant coaches, Becky Hammon with the San Antonio Spurs and Nancy Lieberman of the Sacramento Kings. Hammon was hired in 2014 by the Spurs’ legendary coach, Gregg Popovich. At the time she said “Nothing in my life has really been easy, This was the perfect opportunity.”She remains on the Spurs’ coaching staff now. Lieberman is one of the greatest women basketball players and later coached a Texas NBA Development League team, becoming the first woman to coach a mens team in that league. So, it seems that women coaches have been on the brink of leading an NBA team for some time. The previous NBA Commissioner, David Stern, didn’t take a stand on this matter. But now potential women head coaches in the NBA are getting support from Silver. As Lisa Leslie says: “Why not?” She then followed Hammon to earm a place on an NBA team’s assistant coach.