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Ever is a long time...
Yes
No
Locked on Sports: Donovan could shatter NBA's glass ceiling
By DAVID LOCKE
SPECIAL TO THE POST-INTELLIGENCER
Editor's note: David Locke is the radio play-by-play commentator for the Seattle Storm
As the NBA season begins, the guillotine aimed at coaches is again being sharpened. This season, no different than any other, will knock coach after coach into the unemployment line.
Each time a team fires a coach, it will search for a new one. And each time it will miss one of the best candidates available.
The team will miss out on a coach who has taken two teams to the le game.
It will miss out on a coach who has molded a team and won a championship.
It will miss out on a Hall of Fame player who is one of the few greats to translate their brilliant playing skills into superb teaching skills.
It will miss out on an Olympic gold medalist.
It will miss out on a coach who has taken at-risk players and shaped them into team players.
It will miss out on a coach who turned a young, immature player with a world of talent into a mature, unstoppable force.
Moreover, the team will miss out on one of the best coaches in basketball.
The team officials will miss for only one reason. The coach is a woman.
They will miss out on Anne Donovan.
Why? Why can't Donovan coach men? Why shouldn't an NBA team hire the best available candidate, not the best available male candidate?
Listen to your own argument closely and I'll bet it is filled with holes. My guess is it is the same argument that used to be used for why women couldn't be CEOs of companies.
Last time I checked, eBay seemed fine under the guidance of Meg Whitman.
When hiring a coach, what qualities are you looking for? You want a coach who knows the game, maintains structure, relates to the players, reaches the players and commands respect.
That's Donovan.
Her in-game coaching at the WNBA level would easily translate to the men's game. The game is different, the athletes are different, but the coach's ability to feel the game and understand its flow is the same.
The play calls are different. The game is more one-on-one, but the principles are similar. It is about getting your best players in the best position to make plays for themselves or their teammates. It is about players knowing their roles.
Donovan's ability to reach each player individually is remarkable. Her willingness to take a player with a questionable reputation and work her strengths into the team concept won Seattle a championship.
Betty Lennox, WNBA Finals MVP, was a question mark. In training camp, Donovan put the clamps on Lennox, forcing her to play in tight confines. When Lennox proved she could play in the team concept, Donovan released the reins on Lennox.
Tuesday night, Lennox gave Donovan the ultimate compliment. "I want to thank Anne Donovan. She is the first coach that believed in me. She brought more out of me than I knew I had in myself."
Donovan's brilliance is that nobody gets a free ride. Sue Bird and Lauren Jackson are asked to live by a higher standard, not skate by on separate rules because they are superstars.
In the opening game of the season, when rookie Nicole Ohlde of Minnesota was dominating inside, Donovan looked at Jackson during a timeout and screamed, "She is playing like the MVP, do something about it."
Jackson scored 14 points in the next five minutes and Seattle won. The message was larger. There may be superstars, but there are no favorites.
Great coaching is universal, and that is great coaching.
The subtler moves are at the heart of Donovan's genius. After driving her players relentlessly all season, she pulled back and let them play in the playoffs. In the conference finals, she openly talked about how her team would win the decisive Game 3. She was trying to convince a club that was s -shocked by the end of Game 2. It worked.
There is no question she is a brilliant coach. Why couldn't she coach in the NBA?
The common argument is the players wouldn't respect a woman. Is this argument any different than the Neanderthal concept that a woman couldn't be a CEO or general managers because those below her wouldn't respect her?
In addition, last time I checked, players' respect for coaches is not at an all-time high across the NBA, anyway.
Moreover, many of the players in the NBA are coming from families in which women raised them. Is it possible a woman may actually reach the players better?
Three men in the history of basketball have gone into the Hall of Fame as a coach and a player. Donovan is on the path to being the first woman. If someone has the guts and the brains, it is a path that will go through the NBA.
David Locke hosts "Locked on Sports" from 7-10 p.m. weeknights on Sports Radio 950 KJR-AM. His column usually appears Wednesdays in the P-I. You can e-mail him at [email protected].
Ever is a long time...
I still don't think it will ever happen.
It's bound to happen at some point. There are a lot of female fans and no matter how grating a few of them might be, they are a significant source of revenue for the league. It would be a great PR move. Most likely it would be a successful local college women's coach brought in to coach a NBA team.
I can see them being assistant coaches, but head coach? That would be huge. Don't think it will happen.
Perhaps that would be the first step.
kori you need to try out
Pat Summit is the only possibility for anytime soon. IIRC, she was offered the Tennessee men's position, but turned it down. That's about four hops, three skips and a couple jumps away from the NBA, but closer than anyone else has gotten.
There are a lot of female fans and no matter how grating a few of them might be, they are a significant source of revenue for the league.
Thanks a lot. *sniff*
I don't think it will, either. And I don't have a problem with that.
Why does this thread make me think of Whoopie Goldberg?
I can say- everything is possible. But you need a right woman on right place on right time and ...... yes that's possible
Next step: willa woman ever be a compe or in NBA?
A woman coached a D-1 men's game last year, I think. The HC was suspended by the conference, and she was the AD.
I think a woman coach is more plasible than a female athlete. Some day, a woman will outright own a team first.
[TREBEK]Nooo, sorrrrrry . . . [/TREBEK]
I agree, ever is a long time. In my lifetime I would say maybe an assistant, but not a head coach.
I agree about Pat Summitt. He can outcoach a lot of men right now.
The big thing is the respect factor. Gender is irrelevant when it comes to the techinical part of the game (X's and O's...player matchups, talent evaluation..etc.) The question is whether or not male players will accept a female as an authority figure. There are some out there who would not, even if that coach has a proven track record.
As far as players...Ann Meyers signed a contract with Indiana in 1979 but didn't make it out of pre-season. Nancy Lieberman was the first female to play men's pro basketball in the USBL in 86-87
SW, you were thinking of "Boys on the Side" too?Why does this thread make me think of Whoopie Goldberg?
I doubt anytime soon..I mean come on...every year there is an article about some black head coach who isn't getting a chance in the NBA over some white head coach.
And introducing the coach of the Spurs, Kori Ellis...
Talk about your Freudian slips.
There sooner will be peace in the Middle East before that will happen. These bball players do not even respect male coaches, do you think they would ever listen to a freaking women? no.
This is not my opinion, I am just saying most pro NBA players do not respect anyone or anything other than the mighty dollar.
they may respect a women coach if they can do her
True. But not in my lifetime.
I don't see how you get the street ballas to give women respect. They barely tolerate some of the men coaches who haven't played in the NBA.
There will be a female prez. before a head coach. Most players in the league have serious chips on their shoulders. You think that a Kobe, Artest, Curry, Vince, etc... would respect or listen to a woman? This isn't a slice of society like a CEO would be or the president is. Famous, rich, profesionall athletes on average are the biggest pricks there are.
I hate to say it, but I agree with sickdsm. I never thought I'd agree with a T Wolves fan on something...
He has a point though, can you picture Kobe Bryant or McGrady, or Shaq listening to a woman coach? I hate to say it, but the majority of NBA players are all jerks. I bet that a lot of them have acted like spoiled brats ala Kobe Bryant. The only difference is that their coaches don't publish stories about it.
P.S While women have come a long way, we still have a long way to go. How many CEO's do you know that are women? How many females have even run for presidency? Even in the WNBA, I hear that a lot of the coaches are males. This just goes to show that we have a long way to go. I honestly can't even picture a woman ever being an assistant coach of an NBA team. Which, now that I am thinking about all this, makes me kind of sad....
We're talking 'bout es,
Allen Iverson.
Seriously, no, ALTHOUGH, Christie Doug may blaze a trail or two.
Hahaha, sHedo might make a good female coach after her career is over too.
FWIW, i would have voted for Condeleeza Rice over Kerry/Bush and i'm a white male if it matters.
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