The New York Knicks cast a wide net during their coaching search following the firing of Tom Thibodeau earlier this summer. They approached a handful of teams asking if they could interview their coaches, and were swiftly denied, and took a slow approach before deciding on Mike Brown. There were several candidates, and many others who received interviews, including South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley.
Staley has led the Gamecocks to three national titles, and is among the most decorated coaches in women’s basketball history. She also has an illustrious playing career both at the collegiate level and in the WNBA, and has become one of the most recognizable figures not just in women’s basketball but across the sport as a whole. She gained attention as a possible candidate for the Knicks coaching vacancy, and received an interview, and during an appearance on the “Post Moves with Candace Parker and Aliyah Boston” podcast, she revealed that she would’ve taken the job had the Knicks made an offer.
“I interviewed for the Knicks, it was the same interview that everyone else that was in their candidate pool — same thing,” Staley said. “I thought I did pretty well, I was well prepared. If the Knicks would’ve offered me the job, I would’ve had to do it. Not just for me, it’s for women, just to break open that. It’s the New York Knicks, and I’m from Philly, but it’s the freakin’ New York Knicks.”
If Staley was offered the job with the Knicks and took it, that would’ve sent shockwaves not just around the NBA, but women’s college basketball as well. Staley has been synonymous with South Carolina women’s basketball, and has coached some of the greatest players in the WNBA today highlighted by two-time WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson. Players base their collegiate decisions on wanting to play for her, and so if she were to leave it would leave a massive hole that would be incredibly difficult to fill.
Staley making the jump to the NBA in any capacity would be major news as she would be the first woman ever to lead a men’s professional sports team. And the possibility raises a variety of societal questions that, Staley thinks, team owners may not be eager or prepared to confront.
“The NBA has to be ready for a female head coach,” Staley said. “You can’t just interview somebody and say we’re gonna hire her. Because here’s the thing, I think I probably lost a job [with the Knicks] by asking this question — or I had a series of questions I asked them. One was, for who they were looking for, why I was in the candidate pool? I said, has the New York Knicks organization, in its history ever had what you’re looking for? They wanted a team, they wanted inclusiveness with management and the coaches. They wanted everyone to feel like a team, a close-knit franchise. And the answer was really no. But if you don’t hire anyone different, then how are you going to get that?”
Staley continued.
“My other question was, how, if you hire me as the first female coach, would it impact your daily job, because it would. You’re gonna be asked questions that you don’t have to be asked if you hire a male coach. There’s going to be all this stuff that you’re going to have to deal with that you don’t have to deal with when you hire a male. That got them to thinking like, ‘Maybe she’s right.’ I felt the energy change after that. So I shot myself in the foot for being inquisitive and asking all them darn questions.”
It’s not as though Staley is looking for any NBA job. She said it would have to be the right situation, but it sounds as though its one she would welcome. That doesn’t mean Staley is itching to leave South Carolina though. She signed a contract extension in January that will go through the 2029-30 season, which made her the highest paid college women’s basketball coach in history. That doesn’t mean she’s guaranteed to stay with the Gamecocks until then, and if she were to leave she would certainly have the resume worthy of getting a head coaching gig in the NBA. But given that the recent trend for coaching vacancies in the NBA have been to favor first-time head coaches, or guys who have been around the league for awhile — like Mike Brown — Staley might not even be on the radar of many teams, despite her illustrious resume.
