Bueckers Calls Out WNBA's Lack of Black Women Head Coaches
Get the Sports newsletter
Daily sports — scores, transfers, the storylines from the leagues you actually follow. Free.
- Bueckers called for 'equal opportunity and no discrimination based on what you look like' for Black women to become WNBA head coaches after Sunday's win over the Chicago Sky, saying the league 'was built on a lot of Black women'
- The WNBA currently has zero Black women head coaches among its 15 teams, with seven of those positions held by women overall
- Noelle Quinn, the last Black woman to serve as a WNBA head coach, was let go by the Seattle Storm after parts of five seasons when the team declined to renew her contract last year
- Quinn said in November she believes the racial disparity is 'intentional' and 'not by accident,' arguing 'representation is possible when leadership chooses to make it possible'
- Bueckers, who is white, credited prominent Black women in her upbringing — her stepmother and AAU coach — for shaping her stance on the issue
- The 24-year-old Bueckers is averaging 20.7 points and 6.3 assists (both team highs) for the 16-8 Wings, who have won five straight and will send her to the WNBA All-Star Game later this month
Why it matters: With zero Black women among 15 WNBA head coaching positions despite the league's foundation on Black women players, Bueckers' platform as a white league star and last year's No. 1 pick gives the issue rare visibility — and her specific call for 'no discrimination based on what you look like' puts direct pressure on ownership groups ahead of the next hiring cycle.
