Silver wants a female coach in the league...

[hauntedcomputer]

What's the Venn diagram of the misogynists in this thread and the jingoists in the Mexico City expansion thread?

Close to a circle, I'd imagine.

[prejt]

Why is Silver so obsessed with the idea of a female coach? He's trying to sell unrealistic idea in here. Inspire women where they have realistic chances at getting a job. A men's basketball team coaching is a job probably only a couple of females could do OK in there. And then what? Is he trying to help WNBA here, or just trying to lure in more female fans to the NBA?

Because in the circles he runs in, diversity quotas are an unquestioned shibboleth. That's affirmative action, which will get struck down soon.

[Billy Goat]

Someone should ask Adam why there are no female players

[Ayt]

Let's be honest, having a female coach is a pretty dumb idea. One of the most important aspects of coaching is having the respect of the players, and a female coach will never have the respect of male players because females have not done anything significant in the sport of basketball. The WNBA is still a joke and yet they want a female coach who will obviously be underqualified to lead a male team? Women need to fix their own sports before taking leadership positions in our own.

This is definitely one of the dumber opinions in this thread.

[Ayt]

Why is Silver so obsessed with the idea of a female coach? He's trying to sell unrealistic idea in here. Inspire women where they have realistic chances at getting a job. A men's basketball team coaching is a job probably only a couple of females could do OK in there. And then what? Is he trying to help WNBA here, or just trying to lure in more female fans to the NBA?

Because in the circles he runs in, diversity quotas are an unquestioned shibboleth. That's affirmative action, which will get struck down soon.

This literally has nothing to do with affirmative action and there is no quota. Great post though.

[prejt]

Then what is it about? Why the push? You obviously know why, I'm sure.

[Billy Goat]

Then what is it about? Why the push? You obviously know why, I'm sure.

It’s a commissioner who never played competitive sports pandering to the legacy media.

[ItsDanger]

About half of the 30 coaches are former NBA players. Third of the remaining are long time coaches with tenure/recycled. That doesn't leave a lot for opportunity. So 10 jobs in a country of 340M+? This guy needs a serious reality check.

[MoneyTalks41890]

About half of the 30 coaches are former NBA players. Third of the remaining are long time coaches with tenure/recycled. That doesn't leave a lot for opportunity. So 10 jobs in a country of 340M+? This guy needs a serious reality check.

How many children in that 340m figure do you reckon are good NBA head coach candidates?

[Mephariel]

Let's be honest, having a female coach is a pretty dumb idea. One of the most important aspects of coaching is having the respect of the players, and a female coach will never have the respect of male players because females have not done anything significant in the sport of basketball. The WNBA is still a joke and yet they want a female coach who will obviously be underqualified to lead a male team? Women need to fix their own sports before taking leadership positions in our own.

This is definitely one of the dumber opinions in this thread.

I wonder if these people actually say this in their everyday job about their female boss or superior.

[G35]

What I will never understand is why women would want to be around toxic masculinity.

This is what I have heard about the NBA:
- overly dependent on physical tools
- lack of fundamentals
- less teamwork

This is the narrative about the WNBA:
- more skillful
- better fundamentals
- better team building

I hear men are the "problem" and the only reason why the WNBA and NBA are not on equal footing is advertising. If the best female coaches start going to the NBA, won't there be a backlash that the NBA is taking away from the woman's league due to patriarchal attitudes....

[-Luke-]

I haven't read the entire thread, so maybe someone has already written something similar, but I wouldn't call it bias. Coaches are often recruited among former players who know the league, who know the teams, etc. Deserving players then get a job as an assistant coach with their former teams and if they prove themselves there, they may get promoted. This is not bias. Only men play in the NBA, that's just reality.

I also don't see what Silver's point is. In my opinion, all the attention will only make things worse if a woman really does become a head coach in the NBA. The media attention and pressure will be enormous and it will be treated completely different than if a man had gotten the job. Why not see it as a normal hire if it happens? Statements like Silver's do exactly the opposite of what his possible goal is.

We used to be further along as a society. The ideal used to be that gender, skin color or sexual orientation should not play a role in whether someone gets a job, how someone is treated in court or whether I like someone or not. People should be judged by their actions. But for a few years now, those old ideals have been completely abandoned and people are just talking about gender, skin color or sexual orientation and setting people against each other. In my opinion, this is definitely not progress.

I also agree what some others wrote here that Silver is pretty hypocritical here. If it's so important to him that women get high-level jobs in the NBA, he should resign and appoint a woman as his successor. When you point a finger at others, three fingers on the same hand point back at you.

Becky Hammon has played the game, coached summer league, been an assistant coach, and cant get a gig. Meanwhile other male coaches who have less coaching experience than her have gotten gigs. So clearly its not about "actions".

The same is true for a lot of male coaches. Sam Cassell, Juwan Howard, Patrick Ewing, David Vanterpool, Adrian Griffin, Nate Tibbetts, Will Hardy, Jay Larranaga, ... I could probably name at least 10 more. All these guys are constantly getting interviews and everyone in the league is talking highly of them. But none of them can get a job as a head coach.

There are only 30 job in the NBA. Some good people who I'm sure would do a good job as head coach are left out. Who says Becky Hammon can't get a job because she's a woman, but all the other people can't get a job because.... yeah, why? They all look pretty much male to me.

[Lalouie]

He should step up and be a leader and hire a female deputy commissioner. Or he should resign and recommend a woman take his place as the commish. Leadership starts from the top

[Gusto1903]

I want a Middle Eastern Muslim Coach in the League, whats up with that

[Long2_noD]

I bet Ime wants one too. And sooner!

[FrodoFraggins]

The biggest concern is getting a team of NBA players to accept being coached by a woman who obviously will never of had their experiences. Womens basketball is a completely different sport.

Becky Hammon would be the best choice but it would be so much easier for her to take over for a head coach she assistant coached for with most of the same players. Expecting her to go to a team of strangers is going to expose players biases in a big way.

Are there even any women coaching mens D1 college basketball? It needs to start there and with more AC positions in the NBA.

[Fellow72]

Let's be honest, having a female coach is a pretty dumb idea. One of the most important aspects of coaching is having the respect of the players, and a female coach will never have the respect of male players because females have not done anything significant in the sport of basketball. The WNBA is still a joke and yet they want a female coach who will obviously be underqualified to lead a male team? Women need to fix their own sports before taking leadership positions in our own.

This is definitely one of the dumber opinions in this thread.

I wonder if these people actually say this in their everyday job about their female boss or superior.

There is no need for me to make such remarks in my everyday job. There are many competent women in the corporate world, and women have proven themselves in this area, so there is nothing for me to say in that regard.

However, when we are talking about sports, especially basketball, women have so much to prove and to work on, so such opinions are warranted. Next time, try comparing apples to apples.

[samwana]

if we can fire billy donovan with the nba paying for his salary, i'd say the bulls should try out becky hammon right away. can't get any worse.

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[TheNetsFan]

The barrier to entry is too high for a women right now.

First, there's no candidates in the traditional NBA coaching pipelines. Specifically I believe there's one female head coach in all of NCAA Men's Basketball & none in the G-League. There are a handful of assistant NBA coaches, but that is it. In addition to that lack of pipeline, a female candidate likely currently lacks the previous working relationships with experienced assistants. How a coaching candidate will build out his/her staff is typically a big factor in the GM's decision making process.

Second, you need the right team for them to lead, and I mean that more from an NBA player perspective than an organization perspective. If a GM doesn't think he has a roster full of players open minded enough, he'd be very hesitant to try to put a woman as head coach. I think the best shot at having a female head coach will be when the NBA has an expansion team. That gives a new organization the ability to build a staff and roster with the right minded individuals that can help that coach succeed.

[Wallace_Wallace]

This is definitely one of the dumber opinions in this thread.

I wonder if these people actually say this in their everyday job about their female boss or superior.

There is no need for me to make such remarks in my everyday job. There are many competent women in the corporate world, and women have proven themselves in this area, so there is nothing for me to say in that regard.

However, when we are talking about sports, especially basketball, women have so much to prove and to work on, so such opinions are warranted. Next time, try comparing apples to apples.

TV networks can start hiring women to help breakdown the game. I'm talking about actually breaking down a game with Xs and Os like Tim Legler, not the BS Malika Andrews and Kendrick Perkins do.

Same with YouTube as well. Coach Nick (aka bballbreakdown) started this trend and I hope more women can follow those steps to change the common perception of "women cannot understand the sport as well as men".

Once the perception changes, it will be a lot easier for women to be accepted in the coaching world.

This is not going to be easy; breaking down barriers are never easy. However, once you do overcome the obstacle, respect will be garnered.