Top 10 WNBA Coaches of All-Time

WNBA has witnessed some of the greatest coaches in the sport of basketball. Some of these coaches evolved their coaching style by experience but some of them got them under supervision. However, exceptional ones like Cheryl Reeve already had the grit and basketball IQ to succeed in the WNBA. Today we are going to explore the career of such experts of the game who climbed their way up to the strategic excellence in basketball. Over time, some of them emerged to be the legends of their respective domain with coaching accolades.

1. Cheryl Reeve

The assistant coach journey of Cheryl Reeve started with the Charlotte Sting in 2001 under Anne Donovan. Soon, she moved away to the Cleveland Rockers in 2003. However, during 2004 and 2005, she was again brought back to the Charlotte Sting. Finally, she made a shift to the Minnesota Lynx as a head coach in 2009. The initial failures put Reeve at the edge, as she once said, “We are a bad basketball team. It starts at the top. I have not been able to get them to understand defensively what we need to get done, and, clearly, our offense is one of the worst in the league.”

But things turned around, and by 2011, Reeve had the greatest record with rookie Maya Moore and Lynx. She guided her club to the inaugural WNBA Championship as a coach, which is why she was named the WNBA Coach of the Year that year. She went on to win the titles in 2013, 2015, and 2017. She did not stop evolving as per the league requirements, earning the WNBA Coach of the Year award three more times in 2016, 2020, and 2024.

2. Van Chancellor

Van Chancellor is most prominently known for his coaching of the Houston Comets. He guided the team to four straight WNBA titles, establishing them as the league’s first dynasty. He received numerous WNBA Coach of the Year honors as a reward for his outstanding work. At the 2004 Olympics, he guided the USA Women’s Basketball team to a gold medal on the international basketball podium. Additionally, Chancellor is honored for his lengthy coaching career at the University of Mississippi, where he won numerous SEC Coach of the Year awards and holds the record for most wins as a coach.

After such astounding numbers, he was inducted into the Houston Sports Hall of Fame last year. On such a special occasion, Van said to the Houston Chronicle, “I never thought this would happen, I thought you had to be way above where Van Chancellor was to get into the Houston Sports Hall of Fame. My two players, there are so many great people in the Hall of Fame. Roger (Clemens), Clyde (Drexler), Rudy (Tomjanovich), it’s just a great, great honor.”

3. Becky Hammon

From 2014 to 2021, Becky Hammon was just an assistant coach in the NBA League under one of the sharpest minds in the league, Gregg Popovich. She was a part of the San Antonio Spurs coaching staff. She had left an indelible mark on the franchise and league, spending seven long years with it. However, to get an upgrade, she moved to the WNBA in 2021 as the Las Vegas Aces head coach in December.

In the 2022 WNBA Finals, she instantly won the squad a WNBA Championship, demonstrating her might. In 2023, Hammon won another championship, continuing their winning run. For the first time in the previous two decades, Becky Hammon received a unique honor.

Also Read: Top 5 Highest-Paid WNBA Coaches and Their Salaries in 2024

4. Mike Thibault

Thibault is among the most successful coaches in terms of winning records, having amassed almost 350 victories in his career. WNBA teams like the Washington Mystics and Connecticut Sun have been led by him. He worked part-time in the NBA teams’ coaching departments for most of his career. But in 2003, he took over as head coach of the Connecticut Sun, replacing Dee Brown. Under Mike’s coaching direction, the Sun advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2006. Because of his crucial contribution to the team’s overall development, he was named the WNBA Coach of the Year in both 2006 and 2008.

By the fall of 2012, he took the job of being the head coach for the Washington Mystics. He got the WNBA Coach of the Year again since he led the Mystics to the playoffs for the first time after 2004. After a large break, his team won the WNBA Championship in 2019. However, when Thibault could not deliver continuous results, the team suspended him and his son Eric from the coaching department in October 2024.

5. Bill Laimbeer

Up to 1993, Bill Laimbeer played for the Detroit Pistons and Cleveland Cavaliers in the WNBA. In the WNBA’s early years, the Houston Comets and Los Angeles Sparks had eliminated any chance for the teams to come near to winning the championship. However, Bill was hired as the Detroit Shock’s head coach in the middle of the 2002 season. He assumed leadership right away, and the next year, in 2002, he guided the club to victory. That year, Bill led the Shock roster and won Coach of the Year. In 2006 and 2008, he accomplished the same thing by winning the championship for Detroit Shock.

From 2008 to 2012, he rejoined the NBA as an assistant coach for the Minnesota Timberwolves. But the WNBA was calling him again, and from 2012 to 2017, he served as the Los Angeles Sparks’ general manager and head coach. He later received his final position, coaching the Las Vegas Aces from 2018 to 2021. He eventually took a permanent retirement from the position.

6. Michael Cooper

Under the renowned Magic Johnson, Michael Cooper joined the Los Angeles Lakers in 1994 as a special assistant. But fate had greater plans for him, and in 1999 he joined the Los Angeles Sparks as an assistant coach. He was promoted a year later in the league since he led the team to the playoffs that year.

He showed off the results and took the Sparks to the WNBA Championship for two consecutive years, making them a powerhouse for women’s basketball. He honed the roster of the Sparks and even returned to the NBA as an assistant coach for the Denver Nuggets. From the D-League to USC to Ice Cube’s Big3 league, it appears that he wanted to try out roles in a variety of leagues. He also took home the 2001 and 2002 WNBA Coach of the Year titles during his winning run.

7. Sandy Brondello

From 2005 to 2009, Sandy Brondello served as the San Antonio Silver Stars’ assistant head coach, which marked the beginning of her coaching career. She served as an assistant in the coaching department of the Los Angeles Sparks from 2011 to 2013 after leaving the Stars. But in 2014, the roles were reversed, and she became the head coach of the Phoenix Mercury. In her first season as head coach, she fortunately struck the mark, guiding the Mercury to their third WNBA Championship as a team. That year, she even won the WBCA Coach of the Year title. She remained with the Mercury team until 2021.

Later on, Brondello joined the New York Liberty in 2022. She first led the squad to the 2023 Commissioner’s Cup title and then won the 2024 WNBA Championship. It was a big win considering the stars like Aliyah Boston, Caitlin Clark, and Angel Reese, among others.

8. Brian Agler

Brian Agler, as a coach in different roles, has spent 20 years in the league. Before the WNBA, he easily surfed his way as a guide in the American Basketball League. But in 1998, following the demise of the ABL, he was hired as the inaugural head coach of the Minnesota Lynx, and from 1999 to 2002, he guided the team to a 48-67 record.

Before 2008, he held part-time positions as assistant head coach for the San Antonio Silver Stars from 2005 to 2007 and the Phoenix Mercury from 2004. After his short stints, Agler joined Seattle Storm as head coach, succeeding the successful run of Anne Donovan as a coach on January 9, 2008. He stayed the GM and head coach of the Seattle Storm until 2014 during which he led the Storm to a championship in 2010. Agler became the head coach of the Los Angeles Sparks in January 2015. He guided the Sparks to their third WNBA Championship in October 2016. In December 2018, he left his job to become coach of the Dallas Wings. But he broke off his relationship with the franchise after two years. In 2010, he was also named Coach of the Year.

Also Read: WNBA’s Highest Salary: Biggest Contracts in History

9. Dan Hughes

Dan Hughes was the umbrella tree in the WNBA world as a coach. He not only secured championships for the teams that he led as a coach but also secured the WNBA with a breed of talented coaches. Some of these names include James Wade, Cheryl Reeve, Vickie Johnson, Vanessa Nygaard, and Sandy Brondello.

As to his core achievements as a coach, Hughes coached the Seattle Storm from 2018 to 2022. He not only coached the team but also won 2 championships. The first championships that he got came in 2018 and 2020. Before his streak with Storm, Dan held the responsibilities of Head Coach and General Manager for San Antonio from 2005-16. Hughes was also head coach of the Cleveland Rockers from 2000 to 2003. In 1999, he got the responsibility of the Charlotte Sting head coach midway through the season. Surprisingly, he took these four teams to 15 playoff seasons in his 20 seasons as a coach, according to the Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame.

10. Anne Donovan

The legendary coach and player sadly passed on June 14, 2018. However, her career be it as a coach for the Seattle Storm or the Team USA, is still impactful in the WNBA community. She was a 6’8″ center as a player. As a coach, she first spent her early years with the Old Dominion. However, after some time, she took on the responsibility of the head coach at the University of South Carolina. After treading through the Women’s Basketball league for some time, Donovan became the head coach of the Seattle Storm from 2003 to 2007. She even won a championship with the franchise in the WNBA in 2004.

One of the owners of Seattle Storm, Lisa Brummel, once said to ESPN, “Anne Donovan will always be remembered as a championship coach and a championship person. Her dedication, passion and winning spirit set the tone for Storm basketball. We are deeply saddened by her passing and share our heartfelt condolences with her family.” As a head coach for USA Basketball, she led the team to a gold in the Beijing Games in 2008. In her initial years in the league, Donovan also coached teams like Charlotte Sting, Indiana Fever, Connecticut Sun, and New York Liberty.

Also Read: Unrivaled Basketball League: When, Where and How to watch the new 3×3 Match

The Business of Coaching in the WNBA

WNBA Coach Salaries

According to Salary.com, the salary of the WNBA coaches ranges from $55,994 to $81,503. That means the average salary for WNBA head coaches in 2025 is $67,760, which amounts to about $33 per hour. It is much less than the salary of their NBA counterparts. However, that is evolving, and with the rising fame of the WNBA championships, the salary of the coaches might increase dramatically in the upcoming years.

Challenges and Firings

The scenario of WNBA has changed in the past couple of years. The competency rate in the league is evolving, and so is performance pressure on the head coaches of the franchisees. The league is getting some monumental players like Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, and Breanna Stewart. However, coaches balance these powerhouses on the roster, and that’s why their accuracy matters in the WNBA. If it is not up to the mark, the management does not falter to sack them like Mike Thibault did last year.

Recognitions and Awards

The accolades of WNBA Coach of the Year are usually more centered on the coaches who have brought a dramatic change in the performance of a particular franchise. It is not measured by championships but by the overall team winning record and its growth. However, if one gets to be the WNBA All-Star coach, then it is an honorary position to be a guide to the best of the best in the league.

Also Read: Did Caitlin Clark Leave WNBA for Europe? Truth Or Rumours

Conclusion

The WNBA coaches have not lost touch with their exceptional strategic planning. First, it was Van Chancellor who paved the way for the importance of coaches in the league. Then the baton went to Dan Hughes, who trained a new generation of coaches for the league. We have coaches like Sandy Brondello and Cheryl Reeve, who are on a mission to set new parameters and keep on striving for better. There are hopes that this streak will continue since the WNBA is finally getting its deserved place in the sports community.

FAQs