The two WNBA teams with the worst records are reportedly sticking with what they've got next season.
The Dallas Wings and Chicago Sky, who both finished with records of 10-34, ended last and second to last in the league behind first-year head coaches Chris Koclanes and Tyler Marsh, respectively. But neither team is looking to make a coaching change during the offseason, per Front Office Sports' Annie Costabile.
The report comes one day after the Seattle Storm announced that they would not renew the contract of Noelle Quinn, who coached the team for five years. The Storm said that a head coaching search would begin immediately.
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Koclanes replaced Latricia Trammell as the Wings' head coach this season, but couldn't quite make things click with the team in Dallas. A Wings squad led by Rookie of the Year Paige Bueckers underwent a mid-season shakeup after NaLyssa Smith and DiJonai Carrington were both traded over the summer.
Marsh was hired by Chicago after the team unexpectedly fired Teresa Weatherspoon after one season, and is seemingly being given a little bit more leeway than his predecessor. Marsh's Sky had the lowest average points per game in the league, and could not make things click despite the talents of second-year players Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso.
Last year, a wild WNBA offseason saw eight head coaching vacancies. But Costabile's report points to a very different offseason this year, as even the worst two teams in the league opt to not have coaching turnover. The Storm and the two WNBA expansion teams, the Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo, appear to be the only teams with head coach vacancies heading into the offseason, barring any dramatic firings from the other teams. The other coaches, even those whose teams ended with losing records, appear to off the hot seat for now.
Seattle seems to be a specific case: Though the team finished in seventh place, making it to the playoffs and forcing a game 3 before falling to the Las Vegas Aces, the entire staff was reportedly dismissed as the organization appears to make a completely fresh start. The Sky and Wings organizations, however, are giving their coaches another year.
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Notably, Quinn's ouster leaves the WNBA without any Black female coaches for the first time since 2020. Marsh and Washington Mystics head coach Sydney Johnson are the only Black coaches remaining in the league; only half of the remaining 12 head coaches are women.
In general, coaching turnover in the WNBA is very common. Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve, who has been with the team since 2009, is the most tenured coach in the league; none of the rest of the coaches have been in their post longer than four years.
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