KARA LAWSON EXCITED FOR CHANCE TO COACH DUKE WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Kara Lawson has always wanted to coach at Duke — a fact the first-time college coach hadn't shared with many people.

Once the job opened up earlier this month, the Boston Celtics assistant jumped at the opportunity.

“I knew that if it ever came open, I'd try and put my best foot forward and try to secure the position. That's how highly I thought of the institution and the job," Lawson said on an introductory Zoom call Monday. “I had no idea it would happen a year after I went to Boston. It wasn't in the plans so to speak.”

Lawson said that her mom, Mary, had wanted her to attend Duke as an undergrad, but she ended up choosing Tennessee and having an illustrious playing career for the Lady Vols under Hall of Fame coach Pat Summitt.

“Mom was the one who wanted me to go to Duke,” Lawson said. “Dad wanted me to go to Stanford. I picked Tennessee.”

Lawson pointed out that her mom was on the Zoom call and wearing Duke blue.

The 39-year-old coach said that she knows Summitt would be excited for her.

“She knew a goal of mine was to become a coach. I wanted to become a coach and learn from the best and that led me to Knoxville,” Lawson said. “She'd be pretty excited. I don't know if she'd be wearing blue.”

Lawson appeared in three Final Fours at Tennessee and then played in the WNBA from 2003-15, winning the 2005 championship with Sacramento. She also was part of the U.S. Olympic team that won a gold medal in Beijing in 2008. She had also worked as a TV commentator for NBA and college basketball games before the Celtics hired her in June 2019.

“It's been an emotional three days, it's been tough,” said Lawson, who is in the NBA bubble in Orlando. “I think it's the relationships that makes basketball special. I've built a lot of deep relationships with these guys. Any coach that's leaving a place and going to another place knows that feeling. It's hard to leave.”