Wizards hire WNBA player Kristi Toliver as assistant coach
The Washington Wizards are the latest team to add a woman to their coaching staff.
The Wizards on Tuesday announced several changes to their coaching and training staff. One of the moves was adding Kristi Toliver to their staff as an assistant coach for player development.
Toliver, 31, plays for the Washington Mystics of the WNBA. She’s a two-time WNBA All-Star who played her college ball at Maryland.
Toliver assisted the Wizards’ Summer League team, which helped lead to her getting a position on Scott Brooks’ staff. Brooks called Toliver a “special talent” whom he expects to move through the coaching ranks quickly.
Scott Brooks on adding Kristi Toliver to the full-time #Wizards coaching staff: “Talented coach. She’s a special talent. She’s going to be moving through the ranks pretty quick.”
— Candace Buckner (@CandaceDBuckner) October 16, 2018
Toliver is the first active WNBA player to become a coach in the NBA. She joins Becky Hammon and Jenny Boucek as the third woman currently serving as an assistant coach in the NBA.
“This is the opportunity of a lifetime,” Toliver said on Tuesday, via NBA.com. “When it came about, I wanted to be involved in any capacity that I could.”
“To me, you get everything that you earn, everything that you work for. I want young ladies to know – dream big, anything is possible as long as you put in the work and have a passion for what you do.”
