On Wednesday, the New York Liberty formally introduced the franchise\u2019s new head coach, Chris DeMarco.<\/p>\n
But more than an introduction, the press conference, which was attended by Liberty players Sabrina Ionescu, Betnijah Laney-Hamilton, Nyara Sabally and Isabelle Harrison, served as an opportunity for both general manager Jonathan Kolb and DeMarco to, indirectly, answer (or substantiate) criticisms.<\/p>\n
While DeMarco possesses more than 13 years of NBA assistant coaching experience, all accrued with the four-time champion Golden State Warriors, in addition to serving as the head coach of the Bahamas\u2019 men\u2019s national team since 2019, he lacks any high level experience coaching women\u2019s basketball.<\/p>\n
To put it uncharitably, DeMarco profiled as a coach who suddenly recognized the WNBA as viable, respected opportunity, seeing the WNBA no longer as the NBA\u2019s secondary, subordinate little sister but as a distinct, rising entity with jobs no longer beneath an accomplished NBA lifer.<\/p>\n
DeMarco, certainly aware of critiques both scathing and more sympathetic, was ready to demonstrate his longstanding and growing appreciation of the WNBA. The new head coach, who will remain in his role with the Warriors until Jan. 1, shared:<\/p>\n
We had three games in four nights, so I still am doing my assistant coaching role with the Golden State Warriors. But any free time I have, I\u2019m pouring into this. I\u2019ve probably ordered every book on the New York Liberty like you can find online. I\u2019ve always watched as a fan, right? So now I have to shift my focus and watch as a coach. So there\u2019s a lot to go back and watch, but massive basketball fan and I love every second of it, so continue to lean into that. Continue to learn about the history of the WNBA, the history of the Liberty and like, as we enter the 30th season WNBA and the franchise, like, it\u2019s just a really exciting time.<\/p>\n
DeMarco\u2019s claim that he has \u201cordered every book on the New York Liberty\u201d sounds a bit silly, and certainly raised eyebrows across social media.<\/p>\n
But, he is in an admittedly awkward position. As an outsider who, due to his prior experiences and identity, sparks the suspicions of longtime women\u2019s basketball fans and analysts, DeMarco recognizes that he needs to show that he is committed to integrating himself into the culture of the WNBA. He needs to show that he understands and values the history of the league and the Liberty. He needs to show that, while he might be new to this, he intends to be true to this.<\/p>\n
He comments, still, came off as those of an over-the-top try hard. It\u2019s fair to extend him some grace for making the overcompensatory effort, even if it was a bit cringey and goofy.<\/p>\n
DeMarco further signaled his investment in his new opportunity, saying it was a \u201cno-brainer\u201d<\/a> to accept a role in a \u201cworld-class organization.\u201d<\/a> He emphasized, \u201cI\u2019m absolutely honored to be in a head coaching role in the WNBA…it\u2019s really exciting. It\u2019s where I want to be…I get a chance to coach the greatest players in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n DeMarco likewise praised the \u201chigh character\u201d of Liberty players, noting that he is \u201creally collaborative\u201d and that New York, with \u201cplayers that have already won,\u201d<\/a> will be a \u201cvery player-driven team.\u201d<\/p>\n The thing is, however, Kolb tapped DeMarco for the position because he is NOT of the WNBA or women\u2019s basketball.<\/p>\n Kolb chose DeMarco to replace Sandy Brondello, the epitome of a women\u2019s basketball lifer, because Kolb believes that DeMarco can introduce something new, different and distinct from what the WNBA and Liberty have done in the past.<\/p>\n After the Liberty were eliminated from the playoffs and Brondello was not retained, Kolb insisted the decision was \u201crooted in being proactive,\u201d<\/a> as he determined that \u201cevolution and innovation is what is needed.\u201d Kolb further explained<\/a>, \u201cYou can stand still or you can embrace change and move forward, and my commitment is to keep pushing the New York Liberty to new heights.\u201d<\/p>\n On Wednesday, Kolb echoed his previous, tech-coded points of emphasis, underscoring that after \u201ca detailed search,\u201d<\/a> he and the rest of the Liberty brass saw DeMarco as fulfilling the organization\u2019s priorities, outlining<\/a>:<\/p>\n We came up with criteria that were non-negotiables…tactical confidence…someone\u2019s who\u2019s a leader, someone who possesses a deep curiosity for the game of basketball….someone that understands the habits of building a dynasty…someone that has been in a championship environment.<\/p>\n Kolb said of DeMarco<\/a>, \u201cChris possesses a rare combination of tactical savvy, emotion intelligence, and an unrelenting work ethic,\u201d giving him credit for the \u201cpivotal transition periods\u201d<\/a> he was part of with the Warriors. Kolb additionally related:<\/p>\n Late in the process…once we got to a tactical session…Chris really exceled in that area…he wants us to compete…he was really specific about players…his ability to coach in the NBA while having plans to us really spoke to us.<\/p>\n Kolb, in short, assesses DeMarco\u2019s experience with the Warriors, an organization that once christened itself as \u201clight-years ahead\u201d<\/a> of the rest of the NBA in terms of strategy, culture and innovation, as qualifying him to usher in a smarter, more strategically sophisticated era of Liberty basketball, one that elevates New York above the rest of the WNBA.<\/p>\n The criticisms levied on DeMarco should primarily be aimed at Kolb. It\u2019s Kolb who, in turning to DeMarco, seems to think that he\u2019s found a leader who can take the Liberty beyond the traditional boundaries of WNBA basketball. Kolb, likely, could care less if DeMarco takes a trip to Sue Wicks\u2019 oyster farm<\/a>, watches Tina Charles\u2019 documentary<\/a> about her father or puts a framed picture of \u201cThe Shot\u201d<\/a> in his office.<\/p>\n No, the hire of DeMarco was not designed to explicitly abandon the Liberty\u2019s 30-year WNBA legacy.<\/p>\n Rather, Kolb\u2019s comments consistently indicate that he believes that his goal of building the best, most sustainable and strategically-innovative basketball organization possible required him to look outside the WNBA, an attitude loaded with internalized biases about gender, race and basketball expertise that, not too surprisingly, resulted in a white, male NBA assistant with no prior experience in women\u2019s basketball\u2014who, therefore, must fire up his library card and\/or Amazon account to read up on all things WNBA\u2014being hired as the Liberty\u2019s new head coach.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On Wednesday, the New York Liberty formally introduced the franchise\u2019s new head coach, Chris DeMarco. But more than…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":339638,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[629],"tags":[49,48,82,630],"class_list":{"0":"post-339637","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wnba","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-sports","11":"tag-wnba"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339637","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=339637"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339637\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/339638"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=339637"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=339637"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=339637"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}