Since the end of the 2024 WNBA season, seven franchises have parted ways with their coach. A clear signal is being sent: Coaching jobs in the WNBA come with the expectation of results.
With the exception of Nate Tibbetts (Phoenix Mercury), who is also the highest-paid coach in the WNBA, no team with a losing record still has a job headed into the expansion draft in December.
The trend follows the highest price tag for expansion in league history, an increased expectation for ownership groups to heavily invest in facilities, and also precedes a CBA opt-out where the WNBPA intends to focus on a “new economic model” and “players salaries,” per their statement released on Oct. 21.
In short, the bar has been raised and nobody wants to be left behind. Finding the right coach to attract free agents and become a playoff contender is the price for playing. Coaches need to win, if not immediately on the court then in meetings with current and future players.
Although the Indiana Fever were not the first or even the most recent franchise to part ways with their coach, their decision might be the most illuminating. Despite finishing .500 for the first time since 2016 and making the playoffs, the organization moved on from Christie Sides after two seasons.
It’s been quite the week for Stephanie White, who was fired by the Sun on Monday, but hired by the Fever on Friday. White’s Fever roots, where she was a coach for six seasons, will likely be a much better fit for Indiana’s two No. 1 draft picks Aliyah Boston and Caitlin Clark.
Indiana has a generational talent in Clark and a perennial All-Star in Boston, and likely wanted to have someone who can future-proof for the talent, money and resources coming into the WNBA. Sides, at times, seemed out of her element with the 2024 roster and the additional attention that came with having a marquee player on a team rebuilding.
Building a championship team
Another thing to consider is the sports business case for making leadership changes. The Fever are the most recent team to have multiple first overall picks under rookie contracts. The other is the Las Vegas Aces, who built their team around No. 1 picks Kelsey Plum, A’ja Wilson and Jackie Young.
Unlike the Aces under general manager Bill Laimbeer, the Fever in hindsight squandered several top-five picks before Lin Dunn returned from semi-retirement to serve as general manager in 2022. Three of their picks since 2020 — Emily Engstler, Kysre Gondrezick and Lauren Cox — have struggled to find their footing in the WNBA, and only Engstler played the full 2024 season.
Although the Aces won back-to-back titles in 2022 and 2023, they haven’t been able to build around their stars through the draft, free agency or trades with other teams. On the other hand, the New York Liberty’s championship was led by the original WNBA team developing a combination of top NCAA talent, orchestrating moves in free agency, trading for critical assets, and securing a coach with WNBA Finals experience.
The first domino fell in 2020, when New York received and retained the first overall pick and landed Sabrina Ionescu. Next, the Liberty made a coaching change, though its worth noting the change from an inexperienced Walt Hopkins to a much more experienced Sandy Brondello was not the original plan. Yet, with Brondello in place, the Liberty recruited key veteran players.
Despite the cries of foul play by officials, the New York Liberty were the best team throughout the regular season and playoffs. When the title was on the line, role players stepped up — like they did for Vegas in 2023. The Liberty tallied 15 bench points to Minnesota’s six in a Game 5 that was decided by five points in overtime. Building around a super team was the difference in the 2024 WNBA Finals. Coaches unwilling or unable to go to their reserve players will not be successful in the modern WNBA.
Former league champions Breanna Stewart and Courtney Vandersloot came to New York in free agency. Former league MVP Jonquel Jones requested a trade to New York, and All-Rookie Team player and German Olympian Leonie Fiebich was a key part of the 2024 title run despite being overlooked by two WNBA front offices who never bothered to reach out to the 24-year-old despite owning rights to her contract.
Coaching competence
Although what comes from the front office and ownership is integral to being a contender, it will not substitute for great coaching, all things considered. Take Minnesota Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve, who got her team back to the WNBA Finals and within minutes of a historic fifth franchise title despite being in what many considered a year removed from a rebuild. That said, great coaching is subjective. Reeve, who won WNBA Coach of the Year and Executive of the Year, was in the hot seat this summer when her superstar Olympic roster was taken to the brink by France in the Olympics.
What the see-saw perspective on Reeve tells us is being a great coach, especially with great players, is extremely hard. The WNBA has seen excellent coaching over its 28 years, sometimes despite itself. Brondello, for example, was let go by Phoenix after she led the franchise to its fifth WNBA Finals in 2021, falling short to the Chicago Sky. The Mercury then hired Vanessa Nygaard, a coach with no professional coaching experience. Before hiring Brondello, the Liberty suffered four losing seasons under first-time head coaches Katie Smith and Lynx assistant coach Walt Hopkins after Laimbeer moved on to Las Vegas. Derek Fisher, Tanisha Wright, and Teresa Weatherspoon are some of the most recent first-time coaches to get the axe.
That is not to say all first-time coaches fall short of expectations. Hammon won two WNBA titles in her first two seasons as the Aces’ coach. She also spent several seasons working on the San Antonio Spurs’ coaching staff under Gregg Popovich. In San Antonio, she experienced deep playoff runs and was empowered to serve as bench boss during the 2015 NBA Summer League.
In other words, Hammon was given every opportunity to learn under a great coach, participate in a championship culture, and lead a team all before she signed her WNBA contract with Las Vegas in 2022. As the stakes become higher, will the WNBA invest in a coaching pipeline, especially for former players?
It’s a question that has been asked, and while some accommodations have been made — such as an additional assistant role for any team with at least one former WNBA player on their staff — to build from within, the stakes for coaches is rising as fast as the league’s already elite talent level.
