Had the New York Knicks offered their head coaching job to South Carolina women’s coach Dawn Staley, who had a formal interview for the position, she said she would have taken it.
“I would have had to do it. Not just for me. For women. To break [that door] open,” Staley said on the “Post Moves” podcast with WNBA star Aliyah Boston and former WNBA great Candace Parker. “I would have had to. It’s the New York Knicks. I’m from Philly. But it’s the freaking New York Knicks.”
The Knicks instead hired Mike Brown in early July to fill their head coaching vacancy.
“I would have had to do it. Not just for me. For women. To break [that door] open. I would have had to. It’s the New York Knicks. I’m from Philly. But it’s the freaking New York Knicks. … I shot myself in the foot by … being inquisitive and asking all those darn questions.”
Dawn Staley, on the “Post Moves” podcast, about her coaching interview with the Knicks
The 55-year-old Staley, a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame who has coached the Gamecocks to three national championships, said she was properly prepared and did well in her interview with the Knicks. However, she said on the podcast that she wondered if she hurt her chances by asking the Knicks’ brass if they had fully considered — and were fully prepared for — how hiring the first woman full-time NBA coach would change the organization.
“How, if you hired me as the first female [head] coach in the NBA, would it impact your daily job? Because it would,” Staley said she asked during her interview with the Knicks. “You’re going to be asked questions that you don’t have to answer if you’re a male coach. There’s going to be the media and all this other stuff that you have to deal with that you didn’t have to deal with and don’t have to deal with when you hire a male.
“That got them to thinking, ‘Maybe she’s right.’ I felt the energy change after that. So I shot myself in the foot by … being inquisitive and asking all those darn questions.”
Aside from Staley, the Knicks spoke with former Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins, Pelicans assistant James Borrego and Timberwolves assistant Micah Nori about the job prior to hiring Brown, who previously coached the Sacramento Kings.