NEXT IS NOW
Hammon, Lieberman & Welter opening doors for women coaching the men
IF PLAYERS on the Sacramento Kings ever distrust the credentials of their new assistant coach, they can always Google “Nancy Lieberman” and discover an impressive resumé more than worthy of the position. “I’m like a puppy,” Lieberman says. “I come with papers. I have pedigree. I’m not a mutt. And I’ve never been in a situation where I thought people didn’t respect me.”
Lieberman, 57, has played and worked in basketball ever since she was a young phenom in the Brooklyn playgrounds, growing into the talented athlete known as Lady Magic. She was a national champion at Old Dominion … a member of the U.S. women’s Olympic team … a charter member of the Women’s Basketball League … a USBL player, alongside men, with an average one season of 2.8 assists per game … head coach of a men’s team in the D-League …
You can look it all up. She even became a mentor to mischievous Micheal Ray Richardson, and remains good friends with Sugar. The fact that it took this long for Lieberman to get a job with an NBA team is testimony to the intractable nature of professional sports, and of the well-established old boys’ network. Until now, that is. Over the last year or so, we have finally witnessed some long overdue breakthroughs for women at the highest coaching levels of sport.
Becky Hammon not only was hired by Gregg Popovich as an assistant with the Spurs, she was appointed head coach of San Antonio’s Las Vegas Summer League team — where she won the title. Jen Welter was named inside linebackers coach with the Arizona Cardinals. Amelie Mauresmo was hired as Andy Murray’s chief tennis coach. Barbara Underhill has worked with several NHL teams and individual players as a skating coach.
Lieberman became the latest to break through, after impressing head coach George Karl with her work in the summer league in Vegas. She fully realizes both the importance and irony of such an accomplishment.
“Every job of significance I’ve had has been championed by a man — Pat Riley, Jerry West, Donnie Nelson, now Vlade Divac (Kings president of basketball operations) and George Karl,” she says. “I’m fortunate these particular men have been front and center. But we have a woman who’s running for president. Change is happening every second. It’s in front of us. If Becky Hammon is the first assistant and then nobody comes after her, we haven’t succeeded. The true test is who comes next.”
The women hired for these jobs are eminently qualified, arguably more so than the men in similar positions. Welter has earned a master’s degree in sports psychology and a doctorate in psychology. Mauresmo is a Wimbledon and Australian Open champion.
“For a male coming into that system, who you know can come first,” says Kristen Dieffenbach, a professor in athletic coaching education at West Virginia University. “A woman coming in needs to bring more credentials.”
Several barriers and prejudices remain. Major League Baseball has not hired any gold medalists from the U.S. softball team to advise players on the art of bunting, just for example, and MLS has been surprisingly slow to bring on a woman coach from a vast pool of former national team stars.
MLB and MLS have not been model leagues in this regard. Richard Lapchick’s Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at the University of Central Florida gave MLB a grade of C in gender hiring, while MLS has received a mark of C-plus. At lower organizational levels, there has been some progress. The St. Louis Cardinals hired Rachel Balkovec as their minor league strength coach. The Red Bulls’ Marguerite Ferrell is the senior manager of coach recruitment and education for the team’s training programs.
Often, it can be as tough for women to gain admission to front offices as it is for them to enter the ranks of coaching. The Lapchick study lists the number of women in the MLB office in 2015 at 29.4%, significantly down from 2006, when that number was 42.9%.
Still, exceptions to the rule can drive more exceptions.
“I think anything is possible,” Hammon insists, during her visit last week to a Liberty game at the Garden, where she was honored by her former WNBA franchise. “Just because something’s never been done doesn’t mean it can’t be done. Leadership has no gender. The point is, ‘Do you know basketball? Do you know what it takes to lead people?’
“We’re not asking the male to get up and leave his seat,” Hammon said. “We’re just saying scoot over a little bit. Make a little room at the table for the ladies.”
When room is made, some surprising benefits may be discovered. Hammon led her summer league team to the championship in Vegas, coaxing them with a combination of fire, empathy and meticulous methodology. “Don’t get cute out there!” she screamed, during one huddle. It was something Popovich himself might have yelled. At other times, she was more nurturing — and arguably more patient than the long-time San Antonio coach.
Women can change the coach-player dynamic, make it as much about the person as it is about the X’s and O’s. At the same time, if they do that, they risk becoming branded as too soft, too caring. The sort of empathetic, touchy-feely approach that has worked for Tony Dungy or Pete Carroll may be viewed as a sign of weakness when practiced by a woman.
“There can be a difference in perception,” Dieffenbach says. “When a woman does it, that behavior supposedly is not appropriate for a coach. When a man does it, he’s taking care of his men.”
Lieberman says she can’t worry about such things.
“How you treat people transcends gender, has nothing to do with it,” Lieberman says. “I’m going to talk to you. We’re going to build a bond. It can’t just be about basketball. Tell me about your family. When you have something on an emotional level, it’s more meaningful. Then all of a sudden there’s this warmth and understanding with people. They all want to be loved and cared for. We’re all nurturers.”
How a player reacts to a female authority figure may well depend on his own upbringing; on his past experiences with female teachers, coaches and family members. Some athletes have been raised by single mothers, or have had their playing careers shaped by women. For them, the transition is no transition at all.
Murray is a perfect example of this. His mother, Judy, was Andy’s primary coach throughout his formative tennis years, and he is now extremely comfortable with Mauresmo. The Scotsman has become a remarkable spokesman for women on tour, as well. Whenever he is asked questions about the greatest players in the game, Murray makes a point of bringing Serena Williams into the conversation.
“Have I become a feminist?” Murray wrote in one blog for a French newspaper. “Well, if being a feminist is about fighting so that a woman is treated like a man then yes, I suppose I have.
“They say I was plucky choosing Amélie but, truth be told, if anyone was plucky it was Amélie,” Murray said this spring. “She’s the one who has taken the heat. Her competence was always under fire. I felt embarrassed.”
Other athletes may not be as enlightened.
“It’s got a lot to do with upbringing and experience,” Dieffenbach says. “Those who never had a female coach are more likely to think in terms of stereotypes and say they prefer male coaches. Someone who has never had a chance to have a female coach views it as a gender issue. Those who have experienced more variety are more likely to say, ‘Show me what you know.’ But there will be some men who will have a very hard time.”
The same resistance holds stubbornly true in America’s corporate culture, where the glass ceiling holds firm and salaries are notably lower for women. Pregnancy is still viewed in some places of business as a potential deal breaker. A maternity leave, however, does not necessarily mean the end of a coaching relationship in pro sports. Mauresmo is expecting a child this month and her presence at the U.S. Open is unlikely. In her absence, assistant Jonas Bjorkman will perform coaching duties — but only until Mauresmo is ready to return.
Now that these breakthroughs have transpired, it appears inevitable that a woman will someday be named head coach of a top men’s college or professional team. There had been talk that Pat Summitt, the incomparable Tennessee basketball coach, might be asked to coach men in college or the NBA. She never sought such a post, and is no longer in good health after announcing back in 2011 she was battling early-onset Alzheimer’s disease.
Others, like Hammon and Lieberman, are in position to be promoted through good performance, good luck and nondiscriminatory hiring.
“We are a copycat society,” Lieberman says. “Whether it’s fashionable clothes, or the West Coast offense. All of a sudden Becky gets hired, Jen and myself. Makes you think, ‘Yeah, this can happen.’”
Copy that.