Even as a former Olympian, WNBA legend Lisa Leslie is still being forced to jump through hoops to prove her worth. Many fans have wondered if Leslie would ever make her official return to the WNBA as a head coach; to that, the 52-year-old icon has some bad news.
Leslie sat down with Chicago Sky player Angel Reese on her “Unapologetically Angel” podcast to spill the tea on the ins and outs of the women’s league. And to the shock of almost everyone, Leslie revealed she will “probably never” coach in the WNBA for one insane reason. It’s not that she doesn’t want to coach, but according to Leslie, it’s that she’s never been given the opportunity to do so within the WNBA.
“You know what? I’m going to say this for the first time,” Leslie began when prompted by Reese. “I put my name in the hat to coach this year for two teams, all the way down to the end,” she continued. Leslie currently is the head coach for Triplets in the BIG3 professional basketball league. Also, she’s a studio analyst for Orlando Magic broadcasts on FanDuel Sports Network.
But even with coaching experience, professional experience, and three MVP honors, Leslie revealed she didn’t make the cut to secure the coaching gig. “I won’t say who those two teams are,” she said. “But I did not get picked.”
In the 2024 season, there were only three Black coaches in the WNBA. A recent report declared “Black or African American head coaches decreased from six in 2022 to only three in 2023…25.0 percent of WNBA head coaches.”
So with that, Leslie told Reese, “I feel like I will never make another attempt to go into coaching in the WNBA.” We all know how under appreciated the women of the sports world are, and to Leslie’s next point, being a Black woman just adds more difficulty, despite her accolades and respected reputation.
“You gotta be ten times as great as a Black women in this industry, and when I tell you that who these people hired is not better than me and what I could do for this team and players,” she declared. Even with the rejection, Leslie said she’s not stressing it that much. “What’s for you is for you, and that’s not for me, and I’m okay with that,” she continued.
Instead, Leslie is focused on training the next generation of talent. She and Reese confirmed on the podcast that she will continue mentoring the 22-year-old through her next seasons in the WNBA.