The Philadelphia 76ers must have their next head coach right or fans in Philadelphia will not be happy when they are allowed to return to the Wells Fargo Center. The Sixers fired Brett Brown after seven seasons on August 24, right after the team was swept by the Boston Celtics in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs.
According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, the main candidate for the job appears to be the Los Angeles Clippers assistant and former Cleveland Cavaliers coach Ty Lue. In addition, there may be interest in the Villanova head coach Jay Wright.
However, there is a candidate out of the box according to Mike Uva of WUCH FOX 57.
South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley would be interested in opening the Sixers’ head coach if the team reaches out.
“Dawn Staley is happy with her current job as chief female basketball coach at the University of South Carolina, ” Grape wrote. “But if the Philadelphia 76ers showed an interest in hiring her as their next coach, she wouldn’t ignore those calls.
“According to a source close to the USC women’s basketball program, WACH FOX was informed that Staley would be open to have discussions with his hometown team if they contacted her.”
In fact, Philadelphia sports columnist Marcus Hayes suggested that the Sixers interview Haley. According to Uva’s report, Staley “would definitely consider” the possibility of becoming the NBA’s first female coach, especially in his hometown.
Almost a third of the NBA employs a trainer at the bank, mainly former WNBA star Becky Hammon (San Antonio Spurs). Hammon seems to be in the line of really taking over from Greg Popovich due to his rise in the rank of assistant coach and his victory in the Summer League as head coach of the Spurs’ summer team.
Staley is one of the top female basketball coaches at the college, a coach at Temple (2000-08) and currently in South Carolina (from 2008 to the present). In his career, Staley has a record of 477-178, including a record of 305-98 with Gamecocks.
In 2016-17, Staley took the Gamecocks to a record of 33-4 and a national championship. She also led the team to the Final Four in 2014-15. Although the 2019-20 season ended with an NCAA tournament canceled due to the coronavirus, Staley led South Carolina to a 32-1 record this season, winning the SEC tournament.
Staley played college basketball for Virginia from 1988-92 and was the 9th overall choice in the 1999 WNBA Draft. She played for ABL before WNBA.
She played from 1999-2006 on the WNBA for Charlotte Sting and Houston Comets. Throughout his career, Staley averaged 7.5 points per game, two rebounds per game, 5.1 assists per game, shoots 39.9% off the ground and an average of 1.3 steals per game.
According to Wojnarowksi, the Sixers decided to fire Brown quickly while trying to restart the team, considering they were one game away from the Eastern Conference Finals in 2019. Brown’s shot is expected to be a domino effect with Philadelphia, which will affect Brand .
“The Philadelphia 76ers fired coach Brett Brown, sources told ESPN.” Wojnarowski tweeted. “Brown’s dismissal is expected to be a precursor to further unrest with the 76ers, whose senior leadership – including the general manager Elton Brand – will begin to explore changes to the front office structure, the sources said.
“The franchise plan is for Brand to continue to oversee basketball operations, the sources said, but frontline personnel and structure are undergoing significant assessments and imminent changes.”