South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley has interviewed for head coaching jobs in the NBA, most recently with the New York Knicks. However, she doesn’t believe the league is getting a female head coach anytime soon.
“If I’m the Knicks coach and you have a five-game losing streak, it’s not going to be about the losing streak,” Staley said during Tuesday’s SEC media day. “It’s going to be about being a female coach. So you as an organization, a franchise, you have to be prepared for and strong enough to ignore those types of instances when you’re going to look to hire a female coach.”
Staley said she took the interview with the Knicks because she has known team president Leon Rose for decades. The team ultimately hired Mike Brown, who was most recently the coach of the Sacramento Kings from 2022-25 and ended that tenure with a 107-88 overall record. Staley also interviewed for the Portland Trail Blazers in 2021.
Ultimately, not getting an NBA job was not a big loss for Staley, whose Gamecocks have won two of the last four national championships.
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The NBA job interviews were serious, but Staley admitted she might not really have it in her to be that kind of trailblazer. She was also asked if she thinks there will be a female head coach in the NBA during her lifetime, and she wasn’t feeling too confident about it.
“No, I don’t,” Staley said. “And I hope I’m wrong.”
That being said, she would be happy to help any woman who wants to try.
“If there is somebody that is interested in knowing and interested in being the first female NBA coach, I’ve got all the information,” Staley said. “Come see me, because I’ll get you prepared for the interview.
“And if there are NBA franchises that are interested in hiring a female, I’m here, too, because you’ve got to be ready to take that on and all the things that it comes with because it’s not just about hiring the first female coach.”
