NBA commissioner Adam Silver has made clear that he believes the league is behind the curve when it comes to having women in prominent coaching positions. However, he shared that he has a timeline in mind for when he expects the NBA to hire its first female head coach.
Speaking to journalist Bonnie Bernstein and WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert on the NCAA’s podcast channel this week, Silver explained that he wants to see a woman as an NBA head coach within the next five years.
“Progress isn’t happening as fast as I’d like to see… I would be hugely disappointed if certainly in five years we haven’t seen our first female head coach in the NBA,” Silver told Bernstein.
Silver shared that he’s seen some of the league’s younger players show an increased reverence for the women’s game in recent years and how that has led to further acceptance of the possibility of women coaching in the NBA.
“What we’re seeing now, and you can pull the data, it’s amazing how many of our young players now came from families where their mothers played either D1 or in many cases now were actually in the WNBA,” Silver said. “So, I think there’s a whole different kind of respect for women’s professional basketball or women’s D1 basketball from the younger crop of players who are in the league now. And I think in the same way, once they respect the women’s game, I think they then respect women as coaches as well.”
Silver has been outspoken in the past about his desire to see a female head coach in the NBA. However, during the course of the NBA’s 76-year history, just 15 women have worked as assistant coaches and not one has been hired as a head coach. Currently, there are five female assistant coaches working for teams: Jenny Boucek (Pacers), Lindsey Harding (Kings), Sonia Raman (Grizzlies), Kristi Toliver (Mavericks) and Teresa Weatherspoon (Pelicans).
“I’ve said this before, as much as professional sports has led and the WNBA and NBA have led in certain areas, we’re a bit behind in this area,” Silver said on the podcast. “We should have more women head coaches. We should have a female head coach right now. We should have more women referees, and it’s something we’re working very hard on.”
