Welcome to Basketball Insider, presented by The BIG EAST Conference. On Tuesday morning, the news officially broke that Chris DeMarco won’t be retained as head coach by the New York Liberty. Our Jackie Powell will have much more on why that happened and what’s next, but start here.
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But the decision, while far from a shocking one — the postgame presser that followed New York’s season-ending loss to the Atlanta Dream alone told me that he lacked the confidence of that locker room, and to be clear, that was far from the only way I’d been told that — also reflects the vastly changing nature of how closely people watch the WNBA.
Those of you who are newer to the league probably don’t realize how strange it is to see a coach fired after a single season that included a playoff appearance and a 26-18 record. That comes on the heels of New York moving on from Sandy Brondello after a 27-17 record.
But go back just a few years and the difference is stark. Yes, with the caveat that the expectations are dramatically different, note that New York posted a 2-20 record with Walt Hopkins in the 2020 season. Hopkins returned.
Okay fine, that was the Wubble season, let’s throw it out. Katie Smith posted a 7-27 record as head coach of the 2018 Liberty. She returned in 2019.
Bill Laimbeer went 11-23 as head coach of the 2013 Liberty. He was retained in 2014, went 15-19, got let go in October … and then was brought back in January.
Try to imagine the public response if the Liberty did that with DeMarco in a few months. I’m not here to relitigate those other decisions, to be clear. It’s just a sea change in expectations.
And this one? Well, this was the move New York had to make. DeMarco never got buy-in from critical players in that locker room. His public embarrassment over the reset timeout at the end of Game 2 in the series against Atlanta only finalized what conventional wisdom had already coalesced around him and his staff.
Despite his unequivocal response to me when I asked him if he expected to return, DeMarco might have been the only one who believed that. If anything, people around the league were surprised this announcement took so long.
As to who the Liberty might hire, there are any number of directions the team can go. What is clear is that significant WNBA experience must be part of the equation, whether in the hire herself or among the staff. My list would start with Brandi Poole, Briann January, Fred Williams, Kristi Toliver, Roneeka Hodges and Latricia Trammell if the team wants a leader with that experience. (I’d also see if Nicki Collen, Kelly Graves or Carly Thibault-DuDonis would take a call.) Alternatively, a way forward that includes a voice with experience supporting someone from college or the WNBA is another option.
And this is where I point out that if the Liberty want to emulate recent success of Golden State and Las Vegas’ hires — people with WNBA experience and NBA training, emotional intelligence and depth of technical know-how, in Natalie Nakase and Becky Hammon — the ideal candidates is all but closed off since the NBA returned to their longstanding policy of simply not hiring new women to its coaching staffs. It’s a pipeline problem that needs to change, and the NBA needs to fix it not just for reasons of equity, but to improve the overall pool of coaches for its own ranks as well as the W.
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Speaking of something that affects the WNBA because of decisions made at the NBA level, how about that Thursday afternoon game? Our Michael Waterloo explained why and how that decision happened, but we heard far less about the 1.5 million people who tuned in live for that Game 6 weekday matinee!
Leave aside that the league deserves credit for threading the needle in a decision it lacked much of the control over, and accomplished all of its goals — massive Finals audience, preserving home court for the home team in Game 6, keeping Golden State from moving its Game 7 to a far less ideal date and time — and focus on that 1.5 million.
Three years ago, the 2023 WNBA Finals were the most-watched Finals in 20 years. Up 36%, year-over-year, in viewership. Huge, right?
That Finals averaged 728,000 viewers per game. Half what the WNBA got on a Thursday afternoon at 12:30 in 2026.
And with those eyeballs comes less patience. We’re long past the WNBA where Nolan Richardson can finish 6-28 as head coach of the 2010 Tulsa Shock and return as head coach of the 2011 Tulsa Shock. Where Trudi Lacey can finish 6-28 as head coach of the 2011 Washington Mystics and return as the head coach of the 2012 Washington Mystics (and finish out the year despite a 5-29 record!). Even where Derek Fisher can post a 12-20 record as head coach of the 2021 Los Angeles Sparks and return as head coach (and GM!) of the 2022 Los Angeles Sparks.
Is that good or bad? Will coaches who deserve more patience lose their jobs too soon? Very possibly, though I don’t know anyone around the league who thinks so in this case.
But nothing the WNBA does can happen in a vacuum anymore. Especially in New York. That is going to cost some people their jobs, because the accountability in the WNBA is here. So, too, is the audience.
This week in women’s basketball
I’m so proud of our WNBA Finals coverage. Here’s Marisa, live from Game 7.
And the great Michelle Smith on what it means.
Michael Waterloo takes us through Atlanta’s near-miss of a title run.
‘Rare Gems’ is out now!
Howard Megdal, founder and editor of The IX Basketball and The IX Sports, wrote this deeply reported book. “Rare Gems” follows four connected generations of women’s basketball pioneers, from Elvera “Peps” Neuman to Cheryl Reeve and from Lindsay Whalen to Sylvia Fowles and Paige Bueckers.
If you enjoy Megdal’s coverage of women’s basketball every Wednesday at The IX Sports, you will love “Rare Gems: How Four Generations of Women Paved the Way for the WNBA.”
Five at The IX: Golden State Valkyries Game 7 postgame press conference
Soccer: Annie Peterson, @AnnieMPeterson, AP Women’s Soccer
Tennis: Joey Dillon, @JoeyDillon, Freelance Tennis Writer
Basketball: Howard Megdal, @HowardMegdal, The IX Sports
Softball: Maren Angus-Coombs, @Maren-Angus, The IX Sports
Golf: Marin Dremock, @MDremock, The IX Sports
Hockey: @TheIceGarden, The Ice Garden
Gymnastics: Jessica Taylor Price, @jesstaylorprice, Freelance Writer
