When the WNBA season ended, there were 5 head coaching vacancies — Portland and Toronto as new expansion teams, in addition to the Seattle Storm, New York Liberty and Dallas Wings. With Portland announcing
its choice of Alex Sarama from the Cleveland Cavaliers, the other franchises are on the clock.
Per reporting from The Athletic’s Ben Pickman, Toronto is interviewing multiple candidates, yet their No. 1 choice seems to be similar to the other team’s top pick. Ever since the New York Liberty announced they would not renew Sandy Brondello’s contract, she has been the top choice among fans to take over the role in Seattle, Dallas, and Toronto.
Brondello is an experienced coach, former player, and has coaching experience on two WNBA championship teams, as well as many successful Australian national teams. She could fit into any of these team situations extremely well.
In Seattle, her championship experience would help a team just on the cusp of being able to make deep playoff runs. With Skylar Diggins, Nneka Ogwumike, Gabby Williams and the young star Dom Malonga, Brondello would have tons of talent to work with.
In Dallas, Brondello could coach young star Paige Bueckers to new heights. The Wings struggled with consistency this season, and an experienced coach to help their young roster develop would be a fun opportunity.
Then there is Toronto. A similar situation to Dallas, given that the team’s inaugural roster will likely be youth-focused. Yet, the uniqueness in Toronto is that Brondello would be creating everything from scratch, and likely have a lot of rope to experiment, given the likely lack of pressure to succeed immediately. There is also the fact that Brondello is Australian, and perhaps the idea of coaching in the WNBA’s lone non-USA market is appealing to her and her family.
Per Pickman, the Tempo seem to be focused on Brondello, which isn’t shocking. Every team that is still looking probably is. This choice will likely be Brondello’s to make, and she will be able to choose the situation that excites her the most for her next WNBA coaching chapter. Things on her end seem to be halted a little bit, given she was on a (well-deserved) vacation last week. Yet, there likely won’t be any big decisions made by Seattle, Dallas or Toronto until Brondello makes a decision. Her choice will be the first domino to fall, affecting the rest of the choices around the league.
Of course, Toronto can’t put all its eggs in one basket and has been interviewing other prospects. Pickman reported that former Chicago Sky GM/Head Coach, now Raptors assistant, James Wade interviewed for the role, but his candidacy has waned in recent weeks. Other names Pickman mentions are former Atlanta Dream coach Tanisha Wright, former Dallas Wings coach Latricia Trammell, former Washington Mystics coach and current Minnesota Lynx assistant Eric Thibault, and Indiana Pacers assistant Jenny Boucek.
Outside of Pickman’s report, another name of a coach who could step up into a leading role soon is Krisi Tolliver. Currently the Phoenix Mercury’s associate head coach, Tolliver is a former WNBA player with assistant coaching experience in both the WNBA and NBA. Her name is constantly swirling around WNBA head coaching reports, and it seems inevitable that she will get a shot soon.
Yet, there is also a trend being seen in WNBA head coaching searches that is prioritizing NBA assistants, particularly men, frankly. Phoenix started with Nate Tibbetts, who just took the Mercury to their second WNBA Finals appearance in 5 years. The Fire chooses Sarama continues this trend, and the New York Liberty seem to be interviewing coaches with NBA coaching experience. Outside of just men with NBA experience, there was a shift last season to hire more male WNBA coaches. Karl Smesko replaced Tanisha Wright in Atlanta, Rachid Meziane replaced Steph White in Connecticut, and Tyler Marsh replaced Teresa Weatherspoon in Chicago. Another note, as Noelle Quinn parted ways with the Seattle Storm, it also meant that there are currently no Black women holding WNBA head coaching jobs.
Right now, six of the WNBA’s 11 coaches (not including the vacant jobs) are men. With teams being vocal about dipping into the NBA hiring pool, there may be more men hired in the coming weeks.
Of course, Tolliver has NBA experience as well, and there are several women in assistant positions in the NBA. Becky Hammon was once an assistant on the San Antonio Spurs, and Teresa Weatherspoon spent many seasons on the New Orleans Pelicans staff before she coached the Chicago Sky for one season. Jenny Boucek is of course currently in that position with the Pacers. The Toronto Raptors have former WNBA player Mery Andrade on their staff, and while Brittni Donaldson is currently climbing the ranks in Atlanta, she started her career in Toronto as well.
It will be interesting to see, as these last WNBA coaching vacancies are filled, whether some of these women are chosen or if the trend of male-centred hires continues.
For now, all we can do is wait to see which direction the Toronto Tempo will go. It seems like a decision is coming soon, though.
