ESPN Broadcaster Suggests 76ers Hire Dawn Staley if Team Struggles in Playoffs

After winning her second national title as a head coach at South Carolina on Sunday, Dawn Staley has solidified herself as one of the top coaches in women’s college basketball.

The dominant performance by the Gamecocks on Sunday night was a masterclass in which they went wire-to-wire against the Huskies to claim their second national championship in five seasons. 

While she is certainly one of the top coaches in college hoops, one ESPN broadcaster thinks she could be in store for a different opportunity. 

“If Doc Rivers fails to get out of the first round, the Sixers should strongly consider hiring Dawn Staley,” SportsCenter anchor Max McGee tweeted on Sunday night.

The mention of replacing Rivers is interesting considering the Sixers are in contention for the top spot in the Eastern Conference entering the final week of the regular season. 

It would not be unheard of for Philadelphia to move on, however, as a report last week from Yahoo! suggested that some Sixers players may be souring on Rivers as the coach.

Staley would be a groundbreaking NBA hire if this ever came to fruition, as she would become the first female head coach hired to lead an NBA team. 

Becky Hammon, who is the current head coach of the Las Vegas Aces of the WNBA, became the first full-time assistant coach hired to an NBA bench when she joined Gregg Popovich’s staff with the Spurs from 2014 to ’22.

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