There’s nothing better than making one’s passion their career. That’s exactly what Dawn Staley did, converting her love for basketball into a successful playing and coaching career. Staley played in the WNBA for 10 years and was also a coach for the Temple Owls women’s basketball team while she was still playing in the league.
This is exactly what motivates Staley to wake up every morning, knowing she is living the life she had envisioned. During her SLAM 250 cover shoot last year, Staley described how her love for the game and dispensing her knowledge to the younger generation continue to keep her motivated.
“To be able to play and to coach—to work both sides of my brain—the passion that I had was on full display. If any of the younger players in the WNBA could even have the possibility of doing both, they will find that it’s so fulfilling because you’re able to get out the aggression of playing while also being a dream merchant for younger players and giving them an experience that you’re living. You’re actually living it,” Staley said. (0:46)
One of the main advantages Staley had as a coach was to practically dispense her game knowledge while being an active player in the league. Many coaches often have to trace back to their time of playing. But for a coach actively scoring buckets while also sharing the same skills with the newer generation was definitely a heads-up.
Perhaps this is one of the primary reasons why Staley is considered one of the greatest coaches in women’s basketball.
Dawn Staley initially had no interest in venturing into coaching
Dawn Staley did not at first want to get into coaching. She barely considered it even after Temple University’s athletic director, Dave O’Brien, spoke to her about a possible position. In the year 2000, Staley was on the Olympic team that was attending the Final Four in Philadelphia. O’Brien took that opportunity to invite Staley to visit the campus.
When Staley did visit the campus, she was guided into a conference room with people sitting there, treating her visit like a job interview. When she was asked how she saw herself as a coach, she replied, “No, not at all.” Being a coach while playing in the WNBA was an impossible task. But Staley eventually convinced herself of the challenge.
In her first season in Temple, she led the Owls to the WNIT. In the following 2001, 2002, and 2004 seasons, she went on to lead the Owls to win the Atlantic 10 tournament and qualify for the NCAA tournament. And the rest remains history.
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Dawn Staley Salary, Contract, and Net Worth
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