Dawn Staley Doesn't Believe NBA Will Have a Female HC During Her Lifetime
For as much as women's basketball has grown over the last few years, South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley isn't convinced a woman will coach her own NBA team anytime soon.
During an SEC's media day event on Tuesday, Staley relayed her experience interviewing with the New York Knicks and expanded on the structural challenges the first female head coach in the NBA would face.
"If I'm the Knicks coach and you have a five-game losing streak, it's not going to be about the losing streak, it's going to be about being a female coach," she said. "You as an organization and a franchise, you have to be prepared for that and strong enough to endure those types of instances when you're going to look for or hire a female coach."
Staley then offered a blunt response when asked whether a woman will be an NBA head coach within her lifetime:
The three-time NCAA champion previously addressed this topic in August, when she was a guest on Post Moves with Candace Parker & Aliyah Boston.
Staley said she would've had a hard time during down the Knicks if they tabled a serious offer during their coaching search this past offseason. During her interview, though, she thought New York's front office hadn't considered all of the implications by making history with the first female head coach and how it would "impact your daily job."
"It would because you're gonna be asked questions that you don't have to be asked if you hire a male coach," she said. "… And that got them to thinking. That really got them to thinking, 'Maybe she's right.' And then I felt the energy change after that."
Staley was a six-time All-Star and three-time Olympic gold medalist as a player, and she has become one of the greatest college basketball coaches of her era. She pretty much checks all of the boxes in terms of having a resume worthy of coaching an NBA team.
Even if that doesn't come to pass, the 55-year-old will leave a massive legacy thanks to her achievements with the Gamecocks.
