Nate Tibbetts Moves Up Mercury's Franchise Wins List

Nate Tibbetts has moved into fifth place on the Phoenix Mercury's all-time wins list

Jul 14, 2025; San Francisco, California, USA; Phoenix Mercury head coach Nate Tibbetts pulls up his sleeves during the first quarter against the Golden State Valkyries at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images / Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images

Monday night's road win over the Golden State Valkyries not only gave the Phoenix Mercury the league's second-best record, but also moved head coach Nate Tibbetts into fifth place in the franchise's all-time wins list. It was win number 34 for the second-year head coach, pushing him ahead of Carrie Graf, (with a 33-35 career record) who previously held the fifth spot.

Tibbetts was named head coach last year and planned to have the Mercury play an uptempo brand of basketball and put up "35 to 40" three-point attempts per game. The 2024 Mercury roster was awkwardly constructed, seemingly caught between the past and the future, and his vision for the team never quite came to fruition.

Newly-acquired star (and former Mercury nemesis in the WNBA Finals) Kahleah Copper had a career-best season as a scorer and franchise legends Brittney Griner and Diana Taurasi had solid years, but the team managed just a 19-21 record and got swept in the first round of the playoffs. Still, the players seemed to be in full support of Tibbetts, even when they went through rough stretches.

Going into his second season at the helm of the Mercury, the team was surrounded by question marks, despite picking up All-Star talents in Satou Sabally and Alyssa Thomas. The team would astonishingly only return two players from the previous year's team, Copper and Natasha Mack, an incredibly low number for a team sport so dependent on chemistry and continuity.

They would also be rostering multiple rookies, with four of them in prominent roles and two in the starting lineup. Those rookies may have had pro experience, but none in the WNBA, so it was hard to know how they would adjust.

The talent upgrade was welcome, but it seemed to most that they were still a year away from serious contention.

The Mercury have far surpassed even optimistic expectations this year. Despite all three of their big stars missing games this year, Phoenix has jumped out to a 15-6 start, good for second in the WNBA, while sporting the league's fifth-best offense, third-best defense, and second-fastest pace.

They also have a firm identity. They push the ball, thanks to the athleticism and intensity of Thomas, who leads the entire league with a career-high 9.6 assists per contest and the combination of her ability to pressure the rim and her outstanding passing vision allows the Mercury's sharpshooting role players like Sami Whitcomb, Lexi Held, Kitija Laksa, Kathryn Westbeld, and Monique Akoa Makani (all averaging at least one three-point make per game) to knock down clean looks from the outside.

The team has also cranked up the intensity now that the roster is full of two-way players. Akoa Makani and Thomas in particular are tremendous at pressuring the ball, and Sabally and Westbeld are capable of guarding multiple frontcourt positions as needed.

The whole team fights through screens and forces mistakes, and once forced an absurd 27 turnovers in an early-season win against the Washington Mystics. Establishing such a strong identity this quickly with so few returning players is a credit to his coaching this season, which has him in 2025 Coach of the Year debates.

Tibbetts now sits seven regular season wins behind Paul Westhead, who is in fourth in Mercury history. Ahead of him are Cheryl Miller, with 70 wins, and Sandy Brondello, with 150.

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