The Indiana Fever fired Christie Sides on Sunday, leaving six of the WNBA’s 12 groups from the 2024 season and not using a head coach. It has been that sort of fast-moving, news-making stretch for the WNBA, which has been in a brighter highlight this 12 months than ever earlier than.
Sides went 20-20 this season because the Fever returned to the playoffs for the primary time since 2016 behind the play of Caitlin Clark and Aliyah Boston, the previous two Rookie of the Yr winners. Now with Kelly Krauskopf returning as Fever president and Amber Cox becoming a member of as normal supervisor, the group can also be getting a brand new head coach, parting with Sides after two seasons.
Sides’ departure is the most recent teaching domino to fall because the Los Angeles Sparks fired Curt Miller on Sept. 24. Two days later, Teresa Weatherspoon was let go after one season with the Chicago Sky. On Oct. 2, the Atlanta Dream fired Tanisha Wright, and the Dallas Wings fired Latricia Trammell on Oct. 18. Then on Oct. 23, coach Eric Thibault and normal supervisor Mike Thibault have been let go by the Washington Mystics.
All 4 groups that missed the playoffs and are within the Nov. 17 draft lottery are in search of new head coaches. And when the 2025 season suggestions off, there will probably be a minimum of six new head coaches to open a season for the primary time because the WNBA launched, based on the Elias Sports activities Bureau.
That does not embody the growth Golden State Valkyries, who named Natalie Nakase their first head coach on Oct. 10.
Will any of the openings be crammed by a present WNBA head coach, or by one of many not too long ago fired coaches? What does all this motion imply for the league? ESPN’s Alexa Philippou, Kevin Pelton and Michael Voepel take a look at the WNBA’s teaching carousel.
Was this teaching transfer a shock? Was Sides’ season thought of a hit?
Philippou: The begin to the season was shaky because the Fever opened 2-9, however they finally did what they sought to do: make the playoffs for the primary time since 2016. It took time for the Fever to search out an id, however Sides managed to proper the ship for a robust second half during which they produced the league’s greatest offense after the Olympic break. Lin Dunn — who moved from normal supervisor to senior adviser for the franchise — stated in September that the group was proper the place it wanted to be in her three-year rebuild plan.
It appears like this firing had extra to do with trying forward and wanting to maximise the expertise of Clark, Boston and (if they will re-sign her) Kelsey Mitchell — maybe with an much more skilled and confirmed coach — than a referendum on final 12 months.
It is maybe not totally shocking should you take a look at what the Fever have carried out within the offseason: They introduced again Krauskopf, who led the franchise from 2000 to 2018 earlier than leaving for an assistant normal supervisor position with the Indiana Pacers, and employed Cox (not too long ago COO of the Wings) to function normal supervisor. That wave of recent management trickled all the way down to who was working the present on the sideline.
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What is the No. 1 precedence for a brand new coach in Indiana?
Voepel: The Fever this season have been in a media and social media whirlwind like we have by no means seen within the WNBA. Followers criticized virtually each transfer Sides made.
However Sides and the Fever realized they wanted to tune out as a lot of the social media noise as potential and give attention to the expertise and chemistry they’d. With that mindset, the Fever performed higher as soon as they received previous the gauntlet firstly of their schedule: 11 video games of their first 20 days, together with three vs. New York and two vs. Connecticut in that stretch.
Contemplating the place the Fever have been when Sides was employed earlier than the 2023 season and the place they’re now, she did her job. Getting stars like Clark and Boston was key to that, however Sides took lots of slings and arrows for the group and dealt with it with grace.
The expectations are large going ahead for Sides’ successor. The Fever have been most profitable when taking part in on the quick tempo during which Clark is most comfy. She and Boston developed good chemistry within the pick-and-roll, and the group improved defensively, which contributed to victories, too. Clark will look to chop down on turnovers, however her rookie 12 months was incredible and an ideal constructing block. Sides’ alternative has lots to work with, particularly if Mitchell returns.
Why is that this rent so essential for the Fever?
Pelton: Should you take a look at the historical past of generational skills like Clark, nearly all of them have maximized their potential underneath their second WNBA head coach. Of the six No. 1 picks in league historical past who’ve gone on to win MVP — Lauren Jackson, Maya Moore, Nneka Ogwumike, Candace Parker, Breanna Stewart and Diana Taurasi — 4 of them went on to win championships for the primary time with the group’s second full-time head coach throughout their careers.
The exceptions to that group have been Moore, whose Minnesota Lynx gained the primary of their 4 titles underneath Cheryl Reeve throughout her rookie season, and Parker, who was on her fourth WNBA head coach (Brian Agler) by the point the Sparks gained the 2016 title.
Maybe the very best comparability for the Fever altering coaches now includes Jackson and fellow No. 1 choose Sue Chicken, drafted first total by the Seattle Storm in back-to-back years like Boston and Clark. Though the Storm had a robust coach in Dunn, who went on to win a WNBA title in Indiana, they made a training change after making the playoffs in Chicken’s rookie season and Jackson’s second.
Benefiting from the engaging alternative to teach two budding stars, Seattle employed Anne Donovan away from the Charlotte Sting after she’d reached the WNBA Finals in Charlotte. Two years later, with Chicken and Jackson age 23, the Storm gained a championship. Given the potential of Clark and Boston, these are the sorts of stakes at play for the Fever with this rent.
The worst-case situation for Indiana is what occurred with Parker’s prime years. After Michael Cooper left the Sparks to take the head-coaching job at USC, Los Angeles cycled by a number of coaches earlier than Agler introduced stability to the group and Parker gained her first championship at age 30.
Why has there been a lot upheaval this offseason within the WNBA?
Pelton: Speaking with folks within the league, elevated sources and better consideration on the WNBA each appear to be elements. As groups make investments extra in follow amenities and journey and reap better monetary rewards by way of ticket gross sales and sponsorships for being profitable, there’s extra money to spend on coaches and better urgency to get a return on that funding by profitable huge.
Philippou: With that in thoughts, although, will quickly biking by coaches assure extra success? It is value noting that 4 of those fired coaches had been on the helm for 2 years and one (Weatherspoon) for only one season. Wright, the longest tenured of the group, had been in Atlanta for less than three years. Many of those franchises have additionally been susceptible to teaching turnover generally: The Fever, for instance, have not had a coach last more than three seasons since Dunn (2008-2014), whereas the Wings are in search of their fifth head coach because the group moved to Dallas in 2016.
There is a effective line between prioritizing profitable on this unbelievable second for girls’s basketball but additionally not going by coaches so rapidly that it erodes a franchise’s alternative to determine stability or construct one thing particular with time.
