Every season, we see head coaches in the NBA losing their jobs, sometimes because of their inability to win and other times to, perhaps, cover up the failure of the team. And while there has never been a full-time female head coach in league history, USC head coach Dawn Staley might be causing the front offices to rethink that situation.
Amid recently winning her third National title with the Gamecocks, Staley was also rumored to take over the vacant head coaching job with the Hornets. Although those rumors never came true, veteran superstar Chris Paul believes the league might be ready for Staley to take over.
Being an advocate for women’s basketball for several years, Chris Paul was asked during a recent interview if the NBA was finally ready for Dawn Staley as a head coach. And without any hesitation, CP3 responded, “I think any and everybody is ready for Dawn Staley in whatever she wants to do.” Then, further backing his claim, Paul continued to sing praises of Staley’s talent and personality and revealed how highly the players in the league think of her, “You gotta see the way NBA players talk about her.”
Yes, the whole world is aware of Staley’s knowledge of the game as she has proven it countless times in her legendary career. But CP3 was more impressed by how she connects with her players and makes them buy in and believe in themselves. “That’s a talent in itself… She just seems like the coach that you wanna play for.” With team chemistry being a big part of building a Championship team, Staley’s ability to get the players focused on a singular goal could prove monumental for any franchise in the NBA.
With his comments, Chris Paul made it very clear that he would love to see Dawn Staley coach a team in the NBA. However, when Staley was rumored to take over the head coaching job in Charlotte, she seemed to have a different opinion about taking over the new role, “My passion has always been young people… I consider myself a ‘dream merchant’ for my players. And I really feel like this is my calling.”
While Staley knew that coaching a professional basketball team would be a great challenge for her, she believes that her true passion lies in coaching young upcoming athletes who will build the future of the sport. After all, more often than not, the players who make it big in the NBA and WNBA usually build a lot of their fundamentals from what their college coaches teach them.
More importantly, Staley is the best at what she does as she has garnered multiple accolades, first as a player and then for decades as a head coach. And currently, she seems content in her role as the USC coach as she recently bagged her third straight Naismith Coach of the Year award last month after going undefeated all year. So, although she has all the talent and accolades to make it to the NBA, we can’t say for certain that she will take that leap. Maybe some years down the line if she feels differently, Dawn Staley will create history by taking over a coaching role in the men’s league. What do you think?
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