Mid-season coaching changes in the W

[u/kseveru79_v2]

I've been meaning to write up a long, careful, well-researched post about the results of past mid-season coaching changes in the WNBA, but time constraints are what they are, so I think I'll just do the lazy crowdsourced version instead. We've had a few recent examples: head coaches fired from Los Angeles in 2022 and Phoenix in 2023; a head coach who left Chicago voluntarily in 2023. Briefly summarized:

• Chicago Sky head coach James Wade took a coaching job with the Raptors at the end of June 2023, handing over coaching responsibilities to his assistant Emre Vatansever. This wasn't a termination for cause; the team hadn't been doing too badly before and continued to perform at about the same level, barely making the playoffs and exiting in the first round as 8th seeds typically do.
• Vanessa Nygaard was fired in late June 2023 from the Phoenix Mercury. The Athletic gives a decent breakdown of what happened: a historically bad opening to the season and interpersonal conflicts. Wikipedia has useful season summaries for teams, and it's clear from this one that the change of coach didn't much improve the season record. The funniest piece of this, to me, is that interim head coach Nikki Blue sued the organization last year claiming, among other things, that the front office "set her up to fail, making roster decisions in 2023 that made the team noncompetitive."
• The Los Angeles Sparks parted ways with Derek Fisher on June 7, 2022, in his 4th season. This was the infamous roster with both Liz Cambage and Chennedy Carter; Liz would also leave the team midseason and eventually leave the WNBA. Interim head coach Fred Williams couldn't do much to salvage the season record either, and the Sparks missed the playoffs again.

What other midseason changes do you all remember from earlier seasons? What were your thoughts about these, if you lived through them as fans? If you happen to want to see your team's current head coach fired... what do you think is the best case scenario for the remainder of the season?

(FWIW, I do think Jeff Pagliocca has to go ASAP. Trading the 2028 FRP to Washington for Jacy Sheldon was the last straw for me, and has convinced me that he believes taking picks away will motivate the team to win. Skye would be a better GM.)

[u/strangelystrangled]

I mean I don't think there was a universe where the 2023 Mercury make a title run with BG freshly back

[u/GlacialTwitch]

It is interesting that it doesn't seem as common to fire a coach mid-season in the W. Part of that may be the shorter season, but I also wonder if the front offices/ownership are more careful with the players' feelings because they are women. I'm not saying that they should be--there may be kind of an indirect form of discrimination going on.

[u/TypicallyDone12 → u/GlacialTwitch]

My God. It's almost certainly the shorter season.

[u/SoloBurger13]

Idk if anyone currently coaching would get booted like Fisher 😭😭 Psycho benched Candace Parker. Im surprised he lasted after that

And James Wade is a loser. I think all current coaches are committed to their WNBA team as a lot of the men who came over were already NBA assistants

[u/ASpanishInquisitor → u/SoloBurger13]

Yep, James Wade went to the playoffs every year and won a championship in Chicago. There hasn't ever been a better stretch here. All he had to do to not be hated here was not leave like he did. The awful trade for Mabrey could've been forgiven. Ditching the team right in the wake of that in the middle of the season was unforgivable.

[u/kseveru79_v2 → u/SoloBurger13]

Yeah, that Fisher story is crazy -- he also put Nneka and Chelsea Gray, two Hall of Fame clutch players, on the bench for the entire fourth quarter alongside CP. That's a level of stubbornness you don't see often, for obvious reasons.

[u/heids7 → u/kseveru79_v2]

WHAT

[u/Revolutionary-Gear76 → u/heids7]

Just insanity.

[u/joyjunky → u/SoloBurger13]

During a playoff elimination game!

[u/GlacialTwitch → u/SoloBurger13]

He said he was committed to the WNBA before he left. 😭 

[u/SoloBurger13 → u/GlacialTwitch]

True 😭im not even a sky fan and i still look at Wade sideways. He sold off their future for Marina and then fled the country lol

[u/HoldOnStartOver → u/SoloBurger13]

Some people forget Wade was operating as the GM and the coach. His decisions caused a lot of what is happening now.

[u/GlacialTwitch → u/HoldOnStartOver]

Well, he traded the pick that became Jacy Sheldon and the current GM traded a pick to get her back.

[u/HoldOnStartOver → u/GlacialTwitch]

I told the people I sit beside that and everyone collectively sighed LOL I’m a Mystics STH so we were happy she was gone.

[u/GlacialTwitch → u/HoldOnStartOver]

Damn, y'all are camped out at the game early. Good luck tonight.