The Phoenix Mercury faced controversy over their hiring of former Orlando Magic assistant coach Nate Tibbetts as the 12th coach of their franchise.
The journey begins now. pic.twitter.com/Frd38helM7
— Phoenix Mercury (@PhoenixMercury) October 20, 2023
Tibbetts, who has not coached in the WNBA, is now reportedly the league's highest-paid coach ever with the Mercury, who have had aggressive investment into their organization and that of the Phoenix Suns by majority owner Mat Ishbia.
Tibbetts has 12 years of NBA coaching experience and most recently spent the last two years with the Magic. Tibbetts' father, Fred, was a legendary girl's and women's basketball coach in South Dakota and won 11 state championships.
At his introductory press conference Friday in Phoenix, Tibbetts addressed the controversy and stated his belief to be the right coach for Phoenix.
“I don't really live online,” Tibbetts said. “Me speaking to the players and then welcoming me the way that they have, that's just made me not worry about things that they're not worried about, to be completely honest.”
Tibbetts was chosen over a pool of candidates that general manager Nick U'Ren said was diverse. Phoenix ultimately chose him over its interim coach from the 2023 season, Nikki Blue, among others.
“I'm sensitive to the situation,” Tibbetts said.
“I know I'm only one of three male head coaches in the WNBA. And so I take responsibility for that. I know that people are questioning it. And agree or disagree, I'm going to do the best job that I can and do the best for our players and put them in positions to get better and be successful. But that's my main focus.”
Tibbetts is a father to two girls, Londyn and Jordyn. He said he would draw on his father's experience in women's basketball to help him learn the WNBA game.
“This is a great opportunity to coach some of the best players that have ever played this game,” Nate Tibbetts said. “That background and my upbringing and being in those practices with him over the years and seeing how he treated his players is going to have a huge impact on how I'm going to treat our players here.”
Mercury guard Diana Taurasi said earlier this week she was “thrilled” to have Tibbetts as the franchise's next head coach.
“I believe the last time we had an NBA coach that had never coached women before by the name of (former Suns and Mercury) coach (Paul) Westhead, we won a championship,” Taurasi said. “So I have pretty good experience in that realm.”
U'Ren, who won four NBA championships with the Golden State Warriors, said he knows that diversity and opportunity are “critical” for the Mercury and they want to build a coaching and basketball operations staff reflective of that.
“I think it's an important question, I think it's a valid question,” U'Ren said, “and the response and the question is not one that we take lightly.
“I'm excited for us to be able to take action in terms of building a basketball operations staff and a coaching staff that reflects that diversity, that provides opportunity to people of all backgrounds, all expertise, all skill sets. And we understand that importance and we look forward to taking action, not just saying the words.”
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