Wizards’ Kristi Toliver Becomes First Active WNBA Player To Be NBA Coach
Kristi Toliver will make history by doing double-duty in Washington, D.C.
The Washington Wizards announced Tuesday that they have hired the Washington Mystics guard as an assistant coach on Scott Brooks’ staff with a focus on player development. Toliver, 31, will blaze a trail in her new role by becoming the first active WNBA player to hold a position on an NBA coaching staff.
“This is the opportunity of a lifetime,” Toliver told the Wizards’ website. “When it came about, I wanted to be involved in any capacity that I could.
“To me, you get everything that you earn, everything that you work for. I want young ladies to know — dream big, anything is possible as long as you put in the work and have a passion for what you do.”
Toliver previously was an assistant coach on the Wizards’ 2018 NBA Summer League team and also worked with the Wizards during training camp.
Toliver will join the San Antonio Spurs’ Becky Hammon and the Sacramento Kings’ Nancy Lieberman among women who coach or have coached in the NBA. The difference is, Hammon and Lieberman became NBA coaches after retiring from the WNBA.
Toliver, a 10-year WNBA veteran, will coach the Wizards full-time this season and then suit up for the Mystics in May when their 2019 regular season begins.
