Get to know Teresa Weatherspoon, Phil Useful, and the opposite 4 Unmatched coaches

Unmatched — the brand new 3-on-3 skilled ladies’s basketball league — launches subsequent Friday, Jan. 17 in Miami. 36 of the very best gamers within the WNBA will likely be collaborating, together with Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart (the league’s two co-founders), Sabrina Ionescu, Kahleah Copper, Brittney Griner, and others.

However whereas the league — which has already amassed an spectacular checklist of buyers — actually desires to be worthwhile, the messaging has been clear from the leap: participant growth and participant satisfaction are the last word targets.

Alex Bazzell, Unmatched’s president, comes from a participant growth background, having labored as a abilities coach for each WNBA and NBA gamers.

“Precedence primary for us is the athletes having fun with the expertise,” mentioned Bazzell. “As a result of, in the event that they benefit from the expertise they usually wish to proceed to double down or take a look at this as a long-term alternative — which is what we imagine proper now — we received.”

As such, Unmatched employed coaches with robust participant growth backgrounds for every of its six golf equipment: Adam Harrington (Phantom), Andrew Wade (Laces), DJ Sackmann (Lunar Owls), Nola Henry (Rose), Phil Useful (Mist), and Teresa Weatherspoon (Vinyl).

Right here’s what you might want to learn about every of the six coaches — and the way participant growth is a core facet of every of their skillsets.

Adam Harrington, head coach of the Phantom

Photograph by Steven Ryan/Getty Pictures

Phantom: Satou Sabally (Wings), Marina Mabrey (Solar), Brittney Griner (Mercury), Natasha Cloud (Mercury), Katie Lou Samuelson (Fever), and Sabrina Ionescu (Liberty)

Over a decade in the past, basketball coach Adam Harrington started a protracted relationship with Kevin Durant. Durant was within the midst of an MVP season on the Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder — and Harrington was one of many group’s participant growth coaches.

The 2 immediately hit it off.

Harrington — a former NBA participant — started working intently with Durant in 2013, going past his duties as one of many Thunder’s participant growth personnel. Durant needed to mannequin a few of his exercises after Nowitzki, and Harrington — who shared the ground with Dirk Nowitzki throughout his taking part in days — made the introduction.

The player-coach duo continued to work intently collectively in Brooklyn when Durant turned a Web in 2019 after three seasons in Golden State. Harrington had already been serving as a Nets assistant since 2016, and the connection to Brooklyn served as a draw for Durant when he entered free company.

Now, Harrington is making a profession pivot and turning into the pinnacle coach of an Unmatched basketball group.

Andrew Wade, head coach of the Laces

Photograph by Stephen Gosling/NBAE by way of Getty Pictures

Laces: Jackie Younger (Aces), Tiffany Hayes (Aces), Kayla McBride (Lynx), Alyssa Thomas (Solar), Kate Martin (Valkyries), and Stefanie Dolson (Mystics).

Just some years in the past, Andrew Wade was a sports activities blogger.

In 2018, he revealed an article debating the professionals and cons of the Washington Wizards buying and selling Bradley Beal. In 2019, he dove into his favourite NBA group’s three-point taking pictures.

Wade, a senior in school, beloved basketball — and after taking part in three years of collegiate basketball at Catholic College in Washington DC, he needed to be as immersed within the sport as doable.

Now, the longtime basketball fanatic will get an opportunity to educate a number of the greatest ladies’s basketball gamers on the market, like perennial MVP candidate Alyssa Thomas and four-time All-Star Kayla McBride.

“I’m excited to be within the head seat for the primary time,” he mentioned. “I’m excited to have that problem and face that strain.”

DJ Sackmann, head coach of the Lunar Owls

Lunar Owls: Napheesa Collier (Lynx), Courtney Williams (Lynx), Skylar Diggins-Smith (Storm), Allisha Grey (Dream), Shakira Austin (Mystics), and Cameron Brink (Sparks, will solely play starting in 2026).

DJ Sackmann is a world-renowned NBA abilities coach with tens of millions of social media followers — and intensive expertise working with stars. In 2018, he based HoopStudy, one of many largest on-line basketball training firms on the planet, and he’s hosted basketball coaching occasions in nations across the globe.

Now, he’ll be one in all six head coaches in Unmatched, the brand new 3-on-3 ladies’s skilled basketball league set to start in Miami in January.

“I’ve all the time been a fan of the WNBA,” Sackmann mentioned. “So, once I acquired the decision for this, I used to be extraordinarily excited. I’ve been in a position to spend offseasons working with [WNBA] gamers and acquired to know the event aspect of issues. After I acquired this, I simply checked out it as a chance to be taught from the very best ladies on the planet from my aspect of growth, after which additionally be capable to assist them develop and work on their recreation all through the offseason.”

Different head coaches within the Unmatched combine have extra expertise working with precise groups and within the WNBA area. However, Sackmann is very regarded for his power in participant growth.

“He’s most likely the very best at with the ability to describe what he’s instructing,” mentioned Adam Harrington, one other Unmatched head coach. “He’s such an outstanding speaker and trainer.”

Nola Henry, head coach of the Rose

Photograph by Jeff Haynes/NBAE by way of Getty Pictures

Rose: Chelsea Grey (Aces), Kahleah Copper (Mercury), Angel Reese (Sky), Brittney Sykes (Mystics), Lexie Hull (Fever), and Azura Stevens (Sparks)

Internships don’t sometimes flip into head coach positions.

However, Nola Henry — an intern for the Connecticut Solar in 2020 — labored tirelessly to make it occur. Now, simply 4 years later, at 29 years previous, the previous school hooper might have gotten her huge break.

“I’m tremendous excited and grateful for the chance to educate so many of those wonderful gamers,” Henry informed reporters in her introductory media availability. “I’m trying ahead to the technique and the scheming, however I’m additionally trying ahead to only constructing relationships with the gamers and attending to know them, and being challenged to execute X’s and O’s and simply get began there.”

Henry is a hooper in her personal proper; the 5’7 guard performed basketball at UMass Amherst, after which concluded her taking part in profession on the School of Charleston. In 2018, she joined the teaching workers at Farleigh Dickinson College as a graduate assistant.

However the majority of Henry’s teaching expertise comes from her tenure with the Connecticut Solar. She spent practically 5 years in Uncasville, working beneath then-head coach Curt Miller and aiding the participant growth, video coordinators, and group operations.

When Miller departed Connecticut to develop into the pinnacle coach of the Los Angeles Sparks in 2022, Henry went with him. There, she turned one in all Miller’s lead assistants.

“I’ve had fairly humble beginnings,” Henry mentioned. “I began as an intern in Connecticut, however Curt has carried out a fantastic job being extraordinarily collaborative. So, I had alternatives to be within the room and be part of high-level conversations, whether or not from a training standpoint, high-level video games, or whether or not we have been within the WNBA Finals in 2021. All of these experiences have ready me for this chance.”

Phil Useful, head coach of the Mist

Photograph by Paras Griffin/Getty Pictures for BET

Mist: Jewell Loyd (Storm), DiJonai Carrington (Solar), Breanna Stewart (Liberty), Courtney Vandersloot (Liberty), Rickea Jackson (Sparks), and Aaliyah Edwards (Mystics)

For six consecutive NBA Finals — from 2015 to 2021 — Phil Useful was a fixture on the sidelines. Useful, a longtime NBA assistant who beforehand performed skilled basketball abroad, was there by all of it.

First, he served as an assistant on the Cleveland Cavaliers that received all of it in 2016. Then, he was with Toronto Raptors once they received their title in 2019, after which with the Lakers for 5 seasons, together with their 2020 championship. By his tenure, he established himself as a three-time NBA champion and one of the highly-regarded assistant coaches within the league, working intently with stars like LeBron James, Kawhi Leonard, and Anthony Davis.

Now, in a significant pivot, the 53-year-old is becoming a member of Unmatched — and will likely be a head coach for the primary time.

Useful’s NBA teaching profession started with a participant growth place on the Lakers in 2011, and it resulted in 2024 after he determined to take a 12 months away from probably the most aggressive basketball league on the planet.

After making that call, he was approached by Unmatched President Alex Bazzell — who he’d identified for years — a few potential teaching alternative.

“I’ve been part of ladies’s basketball for a very long time,” Useful mentioned. “However, as soon as me and my group had an opportunity to actually dive into Unmatched and actually pull again the layers of what they have been attempting to perform, I used to be actually fascinated by the entire idea.”

It simply occurs to be that Useful has appreciable expertise with a number of of his upcoming gamers on the Mist Membership; throughout his tenure as an assistant coach on the Lakers, he did consulting work with the Storm, a training alternative that allowed him to work immediately with Breanna Stewart and Jewell Loyd, who have been each in Seattle on the time.

Now, after being handed over as the pinnacle coach of the Lakers twice, Useful will function the pinnacle coach of knowledgeable basketball group for the primary time.

Teresa Weatherspoon, head coach of the Vinyl

Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Pictures

Vinyl: Arike Ogunbowale (Wings), Rhyne Howard (Dream), Aliyah Boston (Fever), Jordin Canada (Dream), Rae Burrell (Sparks), and Dearica Hamby (Sparks)

Weatherspoon — who was surprisingly fired by the Chicago Sky this previous offseason — will likely be a head coach within the new skilled 3-on-3 basketball league. Her involvement in Unmatched doesn’t preclude her from any WNBA roles subsequent season, because the place is a seasonal one.

However, it does imply she’ll be an inaugural coach for the historic basketball league.

Bazzell informed SB Nation that the choice to rent Weatherspoon as one of many six coaches was a no brainer.

“She has the expertise of being a head coach within the WNBA,” Bazzell mentioned. “She’s well-respected. She’s a former participant, a legend in her personal proper, and she or he understands participant growth.”

Weatherspoon has loads of expertise each as a participant and a coach. She led Louisiana Tech to an NCAA nationwide title in 1998, and subsequently performed eight skilled seasons abroad in Italy, France, and Russia. She was one of many unique gamers within the WNBA, starting her tenure in 1997 and spending her first seven seasons with the New York Liberty earlier than taking part in one season with the Los Angeles Sparks. Weatherspoon — a five-time WNBA All-Star and two-time Defensive Participant of the Yr — was voted one of many prime 20 gamers within the historical past of the WNBA in 2016.

Quickly after retiring from the league in 2004, she entered the teaching sphere, turning into the pinnacle coach of Louisiana Tech in 2009. She joined the New Orleans Pelicans as a participant growth coach in 2019, working intently with Pelicans star Zion Williamson — and was elevated to an assistant coach function for the Pelicans for 3 seasons earlier than being let go.

She turned the pinnacle coach of the Sky in 2023, main a rebuilding group to a 13-17 report, and forming a detailed relationship with star rookie Angel Reese.

Weatherspoon’s intensive participant growth background within the NBA, expertise as a participant, and power in relationship-building made her a pure match for an Unmatched teaching function.

“After I sat down along with her, it was a straightforward dialog, as a result of she will get it — she understands greater than anybody what the ability of that is for the gamers,” Bazzell mentioned. “So, we simply needed individuals who might relate to the athletes, that would assist the athletes enhance — that would faucet into mindset growth as nicely. She was a no brainer for us, to be fairly trustworthy.”

This text is the seventh installment of SB Nation’s “WNBA Defined” collection, a weekly column diving deep into totally different matters associated to ladies’s basketball. You may learn final week’s column about WNBA officiating right here.