{"id":774009,"date":"2026-07-20T14:40:30","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T14:40:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/774009\/"},"modified":"2026-07-20T14:40:30","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T14:40:30","slug":"for-teresa-weatherspoon-mentoring-the-next-generation-of-wnba-stars-is-a-passion-and-privilege","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/774009\/","title":{"rendered":"For Teresa Weatherspoon, mentoring the next generation of WNBA stars is a passion and privilege"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Teresa Weatherspoon<\/a> agreed to be a general manager for this week\u2019s WNBA All-Star Game<\/a>, it wasn\u2019t a case of the league calling in a Basketball Hall of Famer out of touch with today\u2019s stars.<\/p>\n

Instead, it\u2019s adding a basketball figure who has mentored All-Stars such as Angel Reese<\/a>, Rhyne Howard<\/a> and Aliyah Boston<\/a>, just as Weatherspoon\u2019s imprint on this era of the WNBA<\/a> grows.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven though you don\u2019t see me coaching \u2026 my phone rings,\u201d Weatherspoon said. <\/p>\n

Weatherspoon developed a reputation as a distinguished orator during her coaching career. Beyond translating X\u2019s and O\u2019s, her heart-tugging conviction injects inspiration, and her words deliver motivation that ignites both her players and the fans who consume her sound bites online.<\/p>\n

For Weatherspoon<\/a>, whose eight-year<\/a> playing career in the WNBA featured five All-Star Game appearances and two Defensive Player of the Year awards, mentorship is a personal passion, driven by a desire to uplift the next generation.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\"Unrivaled<\/p>\n

\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\tUnrivaled coach Teresa Weatherspoon: My love for the game is what keeps me going \u2013 Andscape\t\t\t\tRead now
\n\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI know that she\u2019s always a call away if I need her or a text away and a flight away. If I told her that I need her ASAP to come out to Connecticut, she\u2019d be there the next hour if she could,\u201d said Connecticut Sun guard Saniya Rivers, who played for Weatherspoon in the Unrivaled<\/a> 3\u00d73 league earlier this year. \u201cI\u2019m just very fortunate to be able to have her in my circle and have her in my life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joining the All-Star Game festivities as a general manager alongside fellow Hall of Famer Cynthia Cooper<\/a> was a no-brainer for Weatherspoon, who uses the opportunity to celebrate the WNBA\u2019s history and the players she has championed to drive the league forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt means everything,\u201d Weatherspoon said.<\/p>\n

The ability to converse with others is something Weatherspoon calls a gift, and her conviction comes from personal experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s plenty of things that I went through in my entire career. Some are very personal that you battle through,\u201d Weatherspoon said. \u201cYou find a level of confidence, strength, resilience to get through them. And you just try to share that.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce you hear what someone is going through \u2014 the majority of the time, for me, it\u2019s almost as if I\u2019ve already gone through that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\"Naismith<\/p>\n

\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\tNaismith Hall of Famer Teresa Weatherspoon always demanded the best of herself and teammates\t\t\t\tRead now
\n\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

Weatherspoon credits her family as her greatest mentors in her journey. <\/p>\n

\u201cI learned everything through them,\u201d said Weatherspoon, a native of Pineland, Texas, and the youngest of six siblings. \u201cI got an opportunity to see things, to know where I want to go, how I want to get there. I learned how to fight. I learned how to never give up. I learned how to understand there\u2019s a light at the end of the tunnel, no matter how dark it might seem.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes you don\u2019t understand why you go through what you go through, but you battle through it no matter what. And that\u2019s how I was raised. That\u2019s what my mom and dad taught us. \u2026 That\u2019s what I try to get across to our young people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Building strong relationships with players is paramount to Weatherspoon\u2019s process. It\u2019s a non-negotiable foundation that leads her to understand a player\u2019s \u201cwhy\u201d and allows her to confidently engage in meaningful conversations. She implores players to dig past the surface level of her story and experiences, as that is where the most impactful lessons lie.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think she is able to separate sports, so to say, from just being a human in life. It\u2019s her way of motivating you and the way that she\u2019s able to speak words of literally everything \u2014 empowerment, encouragement \u2014 to you,\u201d said Los Angeles Sparks forward Dearica Hamby, who has played for Weatherspoon\u2019s Vinyl Club in Unrivaled each of the past two years. \u201cShe has a way of making you believe in the person you are, more so than the player.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though her message\u2019s tone may vary, what never changes is Weatherspoon\u2019s commitment to never mince words with her players.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne thing that I\u2019m not going to do is sugarcoat. I\u2019m going to give it to you straight. And it\u2019s up to you to take that message \u2026 and then carry it,\u201d Weatherspoon said. \u201cThey know whatever might come out of my mouth is for the good of them.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\"'We<\/p>\n

\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t‘We are the missing piece’: 5 Black woman coaches see fresh opportunity in Unrivaled \u2013 Andscape\t\t\t\tRead now
\n\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

Weatherspoon said her phone is open 24\/7 to any player who needs to reach her \u2014 and those conversations will always remain confidential.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just call and check in on each other,\u201d Hamby said. \u201dYou know, she\u2019s shared a lot of things with her personal life and the family and vice versa. \u2026 More so, we check in on that area of our lives, just ask how we\u2019re doing, and we let each other know that we love each other. We don\u2019t even really talk basketball.\u201d<\/p>\n

Most importantly, Weatherspoon said, once she picks up the phone, she doesn\u2019t plan on ending the call until she can address the problem.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not going to move from the conversation until we find a solution. We\u2019re going to find a solution,\u201d Weatherspoon said. \u201cIt\u2019s beautiful. It\u2019s amazing for me to know that no matter whether I\u2019m coaching or not, I\u2019m still coaching because I\u2019m having an opportunity to coach them in a different way.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Weatherspoon, mentorship is also a two-way street.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s both of us. It\u2019s all of us. That\u2019s what we want to do is gain as much knowledge as we possibly can \u2014 all of us \u2014 to make it to where we want to be,\u201d she said. \u201cNo matter how long I\u2019ve done something or how much I\u2019m into something, I\u2019m going to always want more.\u201d<\/p>\n

When players whom Weatherspoon has coached find success, even after their direct player-coach relationship ends, those are the moments she deems priceless.<\/p>\n

One of those players is New York Knicks guard Jose Alvarado, whom Weatherspoon coached in New Orleans<\/a>. Alvarado has previously credited<\/a> Weatherspoon with instilling in him the mindset that he belonged at the NBA level even when he didn\u2019t believe that himself.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHe would walk up to me and say, \u2018Do you think that I belong here?\u2019 Finally, I turned around and looked at him and said, \u2018If you ask that question to me again, you don\u2019t need to put on a uniform,\u2019\u201d Weatherspoon said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just a matter of constantly pouring into him. When there was a little bit of doubt, I wanted to keep pouring into him or pulling that doubt away from him. \u2026 I wanted him to understand the difference in who he is and what he brings.\u201d<\/p>\n

In June, Alvarado won a championship with the New York Knicks, contributing to the franchise\u2019s first title since 1973<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow look at my guy,\u201d Weatherspoon said. \u201cMy little brother, Jose Alvarado, is a freaking champion. Name on a street in New York City. That\u2019s, man \u2013 what else could you ask for? You\u2019re talking about a very proud moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\"Unrivaled<\/p>\n

\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\tUnrivaled gives Lisa Leslie space to impart wisdom to the next generation of players \u2013 Andscape\t\t\t\tRead now
\n\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

Weatherspoon has been able to create another pathway to reach players through her work as an analyst. In April, she was announced as a studio analyst for WNBA on Prime. In her role, Weatherspoon has excelled in breaking down and teaching<\/a> the intricacies of the game, but she shines when she has the opportunity to speak with players one-on-one.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe doesn\u2019t judge players. She lets players be themselves and speak,\u201d said WNBA on Prime co-analyst Tamera \u201cTy\u201d Young, a WNBA veteran who served as an assistant on Weatherspoon\u2019s coaching staff in Chicago. \u201cShe listens to understand. That\u2019s what makes players comfortable to be able to talk to her. They know that she\u2019s going to listen to them and hear them out before she gives her word of advice or to help them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whether through the WNBA or Unrivaled, Weatherspoon has interacted and established relationships and a sense of familiarity with an array of league talent. As an analyst, when she greets players postgame, an ease overcomes them as they recognize Weatherspoon on the other end: It is a sense of safety.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the feeling that I get every single time as well. That\u2019s what I want them to feel,\u201d Weatherspoon said. \u201cI got you, no matter what the conversation is about to be. \u2026 It\u2019s beautiful for me because if I say, \u2018Hey, you guys, this is T-Spoon,\u2019 and I see the smile on their face. That\u2019s enough for me. It lets me know that there\u2019s something positive that I\u2019m leaving with our young people, and that\u2019s important.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the All-Star Game, Weatherspoon will step into Wintrust Arena, where she was the head coach of the Chicago Sky for the 2024 WNBA season.<\/p>\n

After finishing with a 13-27 overall record, the franchise fired Weatherspoon in September 2024<\/a> after one season. The firing was viewed as contentious by many who believed Weatherspoon was not given a fair opportunity in Chicago. She spent the past two WNBA offseasons as a head coach for Unrivaled<\/a>, earning a spot in the championship game in 2025.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, it\u2019s just going into another game, another opportunity to be a part of the W. It just so happens to be in Chicago,\u201d she said. \u201cI don\u2019t take anything away from what I had. I got to meet some incredible people there in Chicago, and it will be great to put my eyes on them again.\u201d<\/p>\n

As far as the game, Weatherspoon and Cooper have indulged in a playfully competitive back-and-forth as the teams they drafted<\/a> ready to square off this weekend.<\/p>\n

For the longtime friends, both of whom played pivotal roles in jump-starting the early years of the WNBA and starred in its first All-Star Game in 1999<\/a>, the chance to celebrate how far the league has come is the most important victory.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a huge positive for me because I truly love playing the game of basketball. I want to be an example of how it should be played at all times,\u201d Weatherspoon said. \u201cBut for your life to be impactful to another life, that\u2019s a championship win for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sean Hurd is a senior writer for Andscape who primarily covers women\u2019s basketball. His athletic peak came at the age of 10 when he was named camper of the week at a Josh Childress basketball camp.<\/p>\n

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