"where it’s O.K. to be closed-minded"

May 11, 2018 8:28 AM

An open letter about female coaches, by Pau Gasol.
posted by selfnoise (12 comments total)

First - good on Pau for this article. I think he thread the needle of being supportive without being a white knight on Becky's behalf pretty well here.

There are a lot of inter-sectional arguments that are coming out in the discussion of Becky's interview that I think are interesting - that, in a league filled predominantly with black players (and thus an alumnus of black players) very few black coaches even get an interview, let alone a job. Ditto for the front-office or as owners. There are also the cases of Nancy Liebermann, who's been a head coach of pro male teams for many years and why she's not gotten one. There's Stephanie Ready, who was a black head coach in the development league but who stopped getting offers and is currently a broadcaster - a route many have taken on their road back to coaching.

How Becky, after comparatively less time as an assistant or coach than most, got an interview is if nothing else interesting and perhaps a sign that things are changing at a minimum slowly. For people like Nancy, or Stephanie, or the slew of black male assistants or other level pro coaches who are still shut out, I'm sure it's frustrating - but the reason it is frustrating is not Becky but an NBA system who still seems to grade white male former players and coaches on a more favorable curve than anyone else.
posted by notorious medium at 8:59 AM on May 11, 2018 [7 favorites]

Great piece.

We now have a head coaching job open here in Toronto as Dwayne Casey was fired by the Raptors after being voted by his peers as Coach of the Year.

I can see Toronto being a good place for the first female head coach in the NBA. I hope she gets a look.
posted by thenormshow at 9:24 AM on May 11, 2018 [2 favorites]

As someone who coached boys for over twenty years (in fencing) I have always found it odd that people wouldn’t think it was a normal job for women. In so many ways, it’s the kind of work we’ve always done: paying close attention to young people, only getting some of the credit because people think those young people are just naturally talented, and ensuring they can succeed (and play well with others). :)
posted by Peach at 9:32 AM on May 11, 2018 [21 favorites]

I struggle mightily with this issue as a coach. I play and coach Ultimate (frisbee), a fringe sport that prides itself on being inclusive. Just this year high profile players in the one and only semi-pro league boycotted the league and are sitting out because the league has been slow to embrace the Gender Equity movement from the sport's own ranks. the league does have several high profile female coaches, as does the national team, but is struggling to find a path to giving the best female athletes a place to showcase their skills that is on par with the predominantly male populated league.

I coach at the high school level, and our team plays in a mixed gender league. It's a challenge to have boy athletes value their female teammates. We work hard at it, including post-game and post-practice discussions about how the players feel about being valued on the field. But we are missing a key element, a female coach. Not just a role model for those girls, but another talented voice for the team as whole.

Just yesterday I had a long chat with the outgoing senior girls about their future in the sport. all of them love the play, and several have chosen schools that have Ultimate teams. I took the opportunity to suggest that even if they don't end up playing at higher levels they should remain in the sport as rec players for fun, as mentors for girls and yes, as coaches to give the future generations role models.

Basketball, with its long history and successful female pro league, is possibly the easiest sport to retain female coaches at all levels, and look how difficult it is.
posted by OHenryPacey at 9:57 AM on May 11, 2018 [12 favorites]

I really hope the NBA jumps on hiring more coaches who are women soon. Toronto has an open coaching position as of today. I also deeply hope a team doesn’t do it in a manner where they expect the woman to help the team, it doesn’t happen fast enough, and then they go “whelp it just doesn’t work!”
posted by gucci mane at 10:39 AM on May 11, 2018

I also deeply hope a team doesn’t do it in a manner where they expect the woman to help the team, it doesn’t happen fast enough, and then they go “whelp it just doesn’t work!”

That's why I think Toronto is perhaps the only place that it would wind up a disaster. They fired Casey, and he's essentially the coach of the year (as voted by other coaches, separate from the other award). But after Toronto has been embarrassed (not just beaten) by a Lebron-led Cleveland team the past 3 years straight, unless they overhaul the whole roster by getting rid of Lowry, Derozan and a bunch of other people, there's going to be an almost unbelievable pressure on that next coach to somehow, some way, beat a player that might go down in history as the greatest ever.

So I hope they don't set whoever it is, up to fail. But I can't wait for it to happen.
posted by cashman at 3:47 PM on May 11, 2018

That article is lovely, thank you.
posted by medusa at 5:07 PM on May 11, 2018

Wait, why do coaches need to get changed in a locker room? I always thought the "it might be awkward in a locker room" stuff was about a coach talking to the players while they were changing in the locker room (which is still a giant nobody cares).
posted by the agents of KAOS at 5:21 PM on May 11, 2018

Wait, why do coaches need to get changed in a locker room?

They don’t, really. I covered the Bulls a few times, including while Pau was on the team. There were a couple of offices that were semi-visible from the locker room but those were always empty postgame. There was always a brief media scrum with the opposing head coaches in the hallway in front of drapes, and then a longer postgame press availability with the coach in a totally separate room. Media were allowed into the locker room while players walked to and from the shower (draped in towels) and got dressed, but the coach was elsewhere while players cleaned, changed, and got dressed/left. I guess that could vary elsewhere, but not in the Bulls home setup.
posted by chimpsonfilm at 6:17 PM on May 11, 2018

I was a huge WNBA fan for a number of years, and got to see Becky Hammon play for a number of years. She had amazing court vision and an incredible eye for the game, not to mention being an extremely strong floor leader. The only one I saw that was even close to her was Sue Bird (who would also make a stellar NBA coach if that's what she decides she wanted to do when she retires)*.

Whoever picks Hammon is getting a great coach, IMHO.

*Personally, I think Bird will end up taking over the UConn's women's team someday.
posted by dancing_angel at 6:53 PM on May 11, 2018

This is one of the issues that makes me tear my hair out every time US Soccer hunts for a new coach. MLS teams too. JILL ELLIS IS RIGHT THERE. She's the greatest coach US Soccer has ever had, and arguably the greatest coach in the history of women's soccer. US Men's soccer is a clown college, which makes it even more infuriating. Throw tons of money at her and then apologize to America.
posted by Brocktoon at 3:14 AM on May 12, 2018 [2 favorites]

I also deeply hope a team doesn’t do it in a manner where they expect the woman to help the team, it doesn’t happen fast enough, and then they go “whelp it just doesn’t work!”

Well, every coach has to help the team and every coach needs time. I'd be happy with her at the Bucks and that's a team that could be positively transformed with good coaching.
posted by ersatz at 12:33 AM on May 13, 2018