Dawn Staley Would’ve Left South Carolina for New York Knicks if She Was Offered Coaching Job
South Carolina women’s basketball head coach Dawn Staley interviewed for the New York Knicks head coach job this offseason. Staley told Candace Parker and Aliyah Boston on the Post Moves podcast that she would have left South Carolina for the NBA if she had been offered the coaching job by the Knicks.
New York, though, hired Mike Brown.
According to NBA insider James L. Edwards III of The Athletic, Staley was not considered a finalist for the Knicks job even though he was impressive during her interview.
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).
In 2024, Harding — then the head coach of the Stockton Kings — became the first woman to be named coach of the year in the G League. Harding was the first woman to be the head coach of a G League team and she worked under Anjali Ranadivé, the first female general manager in G League history. Anjali is the daughter of Sacramento Kings owner Vivek Ranadivé.
The Knicks made the conference finals last season for the first time since 2000. They lost to the Pacers in six games and then stunningly fired Tom Thibodeau, who went 226-174 in the regular season and 24-23 in the playoffs and won the 2021 Coach of the Year Award with New York.
Brown has coached the Cleveland Cavaliers, Lakers and Kings. He is 454-304 in the regular season and 50-40 in the playoffs.
The Knicks’ roster is headlined by Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, Josh Hart, Mikal Bridges and Mitchell Robinson. Jordan Clarkson signed with New York after getting waived by the Utah Jazz and Guerschon Yabusele left the Philadelphia 76ers for the Knickerbockers.
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