While out promoting the NBA and Leanin.org’s new gender-equality campaign that launches on Tuesday, Commissioner Adam Silver spoke freely about the topic of women in coaching in the league. In an interview through ESPN, when asked if a we could ever see a female head coach in the NBA Silver believes “there definitely will be” and that it is on him to ensure that it happens.
Recently, WFAN radio host Mike Francesa controversially said that women have “no shot” to be a head coach in the NBA. Silver strongly refuted that notion. While Silver acknowledges that there is no timeline on when this will happen, he says that “there is absolutely no reason why a woman will not ascend to be a head coach in this league”. Silver also cites that the role of a coach has already surpassed barriers. “In the old days, almost virtually all of our head coaches were former NBA players and that’s obviously no longer the case now,” Silver says. “That used to be another barrier to entry”.
Women are already gaining a much more prominent role around the league and that appears to be on the upswing. Silver recently outlined a new plan to improve officiating, and that includes increasing the number of female officials. San Antonio’s Becky Hammon and Sacramento Kings’ Nancy Liberman are already assistants on their respective teams, the barrier to break. Hammon recently turned down a job offer from the Florida Gators to coach their women’s basketball team. She has hopes of being the first female NBA coach, and remaining with the Spurs is still the goal.
Would it surprise anybody if, after Gregg Popovich retired, Hammon took over the Spurs? It would not shock me. She has been with San Antonio since 2014 and undoubtedly has learned a great deal from one of the all-time great coaches, in the process earning his praise. The Spurs are also the perfect setting to break this barrier. Their cold-blooded efficiency and notorious blind-eye towards distractions means a female head coach would not change anything.
Adam Silver and Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, who is also the founder of Leanin.org, have teamed up before to promote gender equality and the role men play in achieving it. This year, Raptors’ guard Kyle Lowry, Suns’ guard Devin Booker, and Pelicans’ guard Jrue Holiday are participating. They will be sharing their stories of the importance of gender equality in sports and, most importantly, life.
