In her first year, she’s done well, helping the Legends get a playoff berth, while also helping develop players for future NBA contracts. Justin Dentmon, Sean Williams, and Joe Alexander all got All-D League honors and the latter two were 1st Round picks in previous NBA drafts. Antonio Daniels also got All D League honors and got a long overdue NBA contract to get to Philly, and though I think that he should have been in the NBA this entire season, but he did dominate the D League while he was there. He also was the leader that led by example and took instructions from Lieberman with no complaint, which was key to helping her lead the team without “gender issues” and I’m pretty sure that for the most part, the guys on this team were fine with her as the coach or they wouldn’t have been there anyway. If he was there for the playoffs, Texas could have advanced, but let’s be honest. All these guys would rather get a 10 day NBA deal which is worth more than an entire D League salary. Joe Alexander was basically a bust in the NBA, and he gained a lot of confidence back and could be back in the NBA next year, and she does deserve some credit for showcasing him, though he didn’t get a 10 day this past season.

If Lieberman can continue to win consistently with the Legends, grab more guys who perform well while they’re there (and get 10 day deals), then I think she’ll get a look as an NBA assistant, probably with Dallas. I don’t think she would be an NBA head coach for any other team than Dallas to be honest, though we’ve seen AHL head coaches become NHL head coaches very quickly, like Bruce Boudreau (Hershey to the Washington Capitals). She is respected among many if not most (or even all) of the major figures in NBA and men’s basketball.

As for Vanderveer, I never heard her being open to coaching men’s basketball, though I’ve never heard her get asked about it. I think for any woman who coaches a men’s team at least in the beginning, she needs to have a very good resume. One difference between the NBA and college basketball is that the NBA is a player’s league and coaches need to be able to monitor egos as well as make personnel adjustments while appropriate. The best players are typically the highest paid, and no coach will make more than the best player. After all, LeBron basically was why Mike Brown, a perfectly fine head coach (I know he was flawed but still good), got fired by the Cavs, as a vain attempt to keep his services.

You could also say that the D League is different from the NBA because all the players there aren’t viewing this league as their final destination and they’re hungry for a 10 day which could turn into a permanent deal down the road, so egos will be in check, which makes it easier in some respects for a coach to coach. I don’t know Lieberman’s salary to coach the team, but I would think that she’s paid more than her players.

But in the current world we are in, it takes someone with some guts to get a woman to coach a men’s basketball team or to get a man known for coaching women’s basketball to coach men’s basketball. Generally teams in coaching searches want to get a coach with experience coaching at that particular level and the move to get Nancy Lieberman was a gutsy call in that regard, but I’m also glad to see that it has worked.

Moving from college to the pros is a bigger difference than moving from women to men (or vice versa). I doubt Vanderveer would be as successful in the pros as she has been as a college coach.

I think Maura McHugh of the Long Beach Sting Rays and Sacramento Monarchs could have coached in the NBA. Also Candi Harvey of the Utah Starzz/San Antonio SilverStars. I think those two ladies had the personality and life experience to hang with a bunch of male athletes.