The Sacramento Kings have been in the headlines a lot this offseason, mostly for the wrong reasons. But here is one move they are definitely getting right.
According to a report on Wednesday by Ailene Voisin of The Sacramento Bee, the team is expected to add Basketball Hall of Famer Nancy Lieberman to their coaching staff, making her the second female assistant coach in the NBA.
“Definitely I’m going to offer her a job,” Kings vice president Vlade Divac said Thursday. “George (Karl) and I talked about bringing her back after she helped us at Summer League (in Las Vegas). She was terrific. She brings a different dimension. I think is a nice opportunity for her.”
Lieberman said Thursday she will accept the offer. Divac said he expects to make an announcement next week.
Though owner Vivek Ranadive and the rest of the Sacramento front office are known for making cutting-edge hires, almost to a fault, all indications are that Lieberman’s addition to the staff is a great move.
The 57-year-old Lieberman brings to the table vast experience in the sport of basketball. One of the most beloved figures in the history of women’s basketball, Lieberman had an illustrious playing career as an Olympian and in the WNBA. A 1996 inductee into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, she was enshrined in the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame three years after that. Lieberman was the original Stan Van Gundy, serving as head coach and general manager of the Detroit Shock for three seasons at the turn of the millennium. Then, she took her talents to the NBA realm, being hired by Don Nelson in 2009 to coach the Texas Legends of the D-League (a Mavericks affiliate) before becoming assistant GM of the team in 2011. So yeah, needless to say, she is much, much more than a publicity hire.
Lieberman follows in the footsteps of Spurs assistant coach Becky Hammon, who joined Coach Gregg Popovich’s staff last year to become the first female assistant in NBA history. Hammon’s offseason triumphs, leading the Spurs to the 2015 Summer League championship, have been widely applauded, and now Lieberman will look to build off her successes. The Arizona Cardinals also just hired Jenn Welter as a preseason linebackers coach last week, making her the first woman ever to coach in any capacity in the NFL.
Hopefully these trailblazers have fully paved the way for a larger female presence in professional sports, something that has long been overdue.
Let’s cross our fingers that Lieberman is an analytics-oriented thinker that can balance out the rest of the Kings’ staff.
