Cal women’s coach Gottlieb departing for NBA’s Cavaliers
Lindsay Gottlieb already had made the decision.
It was clearly the right thing and the right time, but it sure helped with the affirmation when she asked her most trusted confidant about the life-altering move.
“Do you want to go to the NBA?” Gottlieb said she asked her 2-year-old son, Jordan, on Tuesday night. “Do you want to go to Cleveland?”
He said yeah, and hours later, the news hit that Gottlieb was leaving her post as the head coach of the Cal women’s team to take an assistant job
on the staff of the Cleveland Cavaliers — a monumental move in line with the NBA’s drive toward gender equity.
Gottlieb is among the trailblazing women who are establishing their place in NBA coaching, including San Antonio assistant Becky Hammon, Washington’s Kristi Toliver and those in developmental roles: Lindsey Harding (76ers), Karen Stack-Umlauf (Bulls), Jenny Boucek (Mavericks) and Natalie Nakase (Clippers).
One of the special things about Gottlieb is that she’s the first head women’s coach in the NCAA to be recruited to the NBA.
“Someone in my role had to leave a Power 5 head-coaching job and be good,” Gottlieb said. “I need to be good. I need to do it right.
“Eventually, you’re going to be looking at a high-level women’s college coach and thinking: ‘Why can’t she be a head coach for an NBA team, if she’s the right fit and it feels like the right thing for her?’ ”
Gottlieb, 41, has strong credentials with a 179-89 record at Cal, including being a Naismith National Coach of the Year finalist in 2013. She developed five All-America selections and six WNBA draft choices.
A force in advancing the game and an expert on establishing the culture of a program, Gottlieb was an obvious choice for Cleveland’s new head coach, John Beilein, and associate head coach JB Bickerstaff.
Actually, the conversations started with Cleveland general manager Koby Altman, who initially contacted Gottlieb about bigger-picture issues. It was obvious what she had to do after Gottlieb flew to Cleveland and reconnected with Beilein, who just missed her at the University of Richmond, shared a series of Nike tours with her and teaches an offense she’ll implement.
“If your dreams don’t scare you, people say they’re not crazy enough,” Gottlieb said. “I think the easier thing would have been to stay here. I had a vision and a plan for this program for however long, but how willing are you to go through a thing that will have a lasting impact?”
A Cal program that Gottlieb said is “part of me” will be run by assistant Kai Felton in the interim. Athletic director Jim Knowlton and the university will begin a national search for Gottlieb’s replacement immediately, according to the school.
It’s a program that is starting over in the wake of the graduations of all-time leading scorer Kristine Anigwe and point guard Asha Thomas and will not be the same without Gottlieb.
“I am 1,000 percent aware that it is the young women who wore this jersey, who got us to a Final Four, won championships, went to class and carried themselves well. It is on them that I have this opportunity,” Gottlieb said. “I hope I worked really hard and brought value, but coaches get places and do things because of the players.
“I am very aware of that and grateful to every single player I’ve coached.”
At 6, Gottlieb wanted to be the Yankees’ shortstop. Maybe she’d settle for being a senator from New York, she decided years later.
Instead, the Scarsdale, N.Y., native became a staple of USA Basketball while advancing her coaching career. She was an assistant at Syracuse (1999-2001), New Hampshire (2001-02), Richmond (2002-05) and Cal (2005-07) before getting her first headcoaching job at UC Santa Barbara.
She returned to Cal for the head-coaching job in 2011 and led the Bears to a 32-4 record and the program’s first-ever Final Four in 2013.
Gottlieb said she’ll report to Cleveland on Monday to talk about the draft. She’ll then help install the offense for the summer-league team. All along, she’ll have to answer questions about things way more important than basketball.
“There is part of me that’s like: ‘This is crazy. Can I do this? Can I be good at it?’ ” Gottlieb said. “Ultimately, I believe that I can.
“I just have to be courageous enough to do it.”