South Carolina women’s basketball: Would Dawn Staley have coached the Knicks?

Appearing on Aliyah Boston and Candace Parker’s “Post Moves” podcast, Dawn Staley addressed for the first time the rumours that the New York Knicks interviewed her for their vacant coaching position earlier this summer.

“Would you ever seriously take an NBA job?” Parker asked Staley.

“I interviewed for the Knicks. I did,” Staley said. “It was the same interview that everybody else that was in their candidate pool, same thing. Went in, it was hours. In the interview, I thought I did pretty well. I was well-prepared for the interview.”

The Knicks contacted Staley in late June after striking out with their top candidates.

New York requested and was denied permission to interview sitting head coaches Jason Kidd of Dallas, Ime Udoka of Houston, Chris Finch of Minnesota, and Quin Snyder of Atlanta. The Kicks turned to former Memphis coach Taylor Jenkins and former Sacramento, Cleveland, and Los Angeles coach Mike Brown, who ultimately got the job.

But would Staley have accepted the job if offered?

“If the Knicks would have offered me the job, I would have had to do it,” Staley said. “Not just for me, it’s for women. Just to break open that (barrier). And it’s the New York Knicks. I’m from Philly, but it’s the freaking New York Knicks. And I said that in the interview.”

She added that she didn’t say “freaking” in the interview, but the NSFW cousin.

“Would I take any NBA job? No,” Staley continued. “But I will say this: the NBA has to be ready for a female head coach. You can’t just interview somebody and say, ‘We’re gonna hire her.’ I think I probably lost the job by asking this question, or I had a series of questions that I asked them. One was who they were looking for, for why I was in the candidate pool. If I’m so attractive, I said, has the New York Knicks organization in its history, ever had what you’re looking for? They wanted a team. They wanted the inclusiveness with management and the coaches and they wanted to feel like a team, like a closely knit franchise. And the answer was no. But if you don’t hire anybody different, how are you going to get that?

“My other question was how, if you hired me as the first female coach, how would it impact your daily job?” she continued. “Because it would. You’re going to be asked questions that you don’t have to be asked if you hire a male coach. There’s going to be the media, there’s going to be all this stuff that you have to deal with that you didn’t have to deal with, and you don’t have to deal with when you hire a male. And then that got them to thinking, that really got them to thinking, maybe she’s right. I felt the energy change after that. I shot myself in the foot by being Aliyah, being inquisitive, and asking all those darn questions.”

Join GamecockCentral now for $1 your first week and enjoy a complimentary year of The Athletic – included with your membership.

It wasn’t the first time Staley had drawn interest from the NBA. Her name has often been linked to her hometown 76ers, but that has never been more than social media wishful thinking. 

However, in 2021, Staley interviewed with the Portland Trail Blazers. Portland ultimately hired Chauncey Billups. That same summer, the Washington Wizards asked to interview Staley, but she turned them down, saying she felt the request “wasn’t serious.”

Staley signed a five-year, $25.25 million contract extension in January that makes her the highest-paid coach in the history of women’s basketball. Her annual salary begins at $4 million and increases by $250,000 each year, topping out at $5.25 million in the final year. There are also annual incentive bonuses worth up to $680,000.

She’s getting paid millions more than any other women’s basketball coach, but the median NBA head coach’s salary is reportedly around $7 million annually. Staley would still likely be getting a raise to make the jump. 

There is also an interesting clause in Staley’s contract.

Staley faces a very significant buyout if she leaves, a carryover from the last contract meant to protect the university. But there is a notable exception. Staley owes nothing if she leaves to “immediately accept” a job as a head coach or assistant coach in the NBA or WNBA.

Staley has repeatedly said she is not interested in coaching in the professional leagues, and the previous buyout plus relatively low salary made taking a WNBA job financially improbable. That hasn’t stopped speculation, and her name gets floated for almost every opening.

“I don’t want to coach in the WNBA. I could have coached in the WNBA a long time ago. That really isn’t my passion,” Staley said. “I want ownership. I want to own. I don’t want to be a coach.”

Discuss South Carolina women’s basketball on The Insiders Forum!