Dawn Staley confirmed that she had a formal interview with the New York Knicks for their head coaching position and would have accepted the task if it had been offered. Staley was impressed during her conversation with Leon Rose and other members of the Front Office of the Knicks, but she was not considered a finalist.
“If the Knicks had offered me the job, I should have done it,” said Staley. “It’s not just for me, it’s for women, because … to open that. It’s the New York Knicks, and I am from Philly, but it’s the Freakin” New York Knicks. “
The Knicks eventually hired Mike Brown for the job.
Staley came in the interview with his own questions about the potential opportunity to become the first female head coach of the NBA.
“Would I take an NBA job? No,” said Staley. “I will say this: the NBA must be ready for a female head coach. You can’t only interview someone and say,” We’re going to hire her. ” I probably lost the job by asking this question. “
“Well, I had a series of questions I asked them,” she continued. “No. 1 was: Why was I in the candidate pool? I said:” Did the New York Knicks organization ever had what you were looking for in her history? They wanted a team. They wanted inclusiveness with management, coaches and everyone. They wanted it to feel a meticulous franchise. The answer was really “no.”
“My other question was:” If you would hire me as the first female coach, how would it influence your daily job? ” Because it would change the energy afterwards.
Staley signed a contract extension with South Carolina in January, who makes her the best -paid coach in women’s basketball.
There are currently three women who serve as NBA assistant -coaches: Jenny Boucek (Indiana Pacers), Brittni Dolandson (Atlanta Hawks) and Lindsey Harding (Los Angeles Lakers).
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