Share
Sports

NBA commissioner Silver wants more female refs _ and coaches

Share

WASHINGTON (AP) — NBA Commissioner Adam Silver wants half of all new referees joining the league to be women — and he would like to see teams hire female coaches, too.

In an appearance Thursday for The Economic Club of Washington, D.C., Silver said two of the past five refs added from the developmental G-League were women, bringing the total number of female officials to three.

“It’s an area, frankly, where I’ve acknowledged that I’m not sure how it was that it remained so male-dominated for so long. Because it’s an area of the game where physically, certainly, there’s no benefit to being a man, as opposed to a woman, when it comes to refereeing,” Silver said.

“The goal is: Going forward, it should be roughly 50-50 of new officials entering in the league,” he said. “Same for coaches, by the way. We have a program, too. There’s no reason why women shouldn’t be coaching men’s basketball.”

There has never been a female head coach in the NBA.

Becky Hammon of the San Antonio Spurs was the league’s first full-time female assistant. Kristi Toliver worked as an assistant coach for the Washington Wizards this season; she also still plays for the WNBA’s Mystics in the same city.

In December, the Indiana Pacers made Kelly Krauskopf the first woman to hold the title of assistant general manager in the NBA.

Among the other topics he was asked about Thursday was the NBA’s one-and-done rule, and Silver reiterated that he has changed his stance on the issue and is willing to let 18-year-old players enter the league.

“I have changed my position. It’s a tough one, because not all the teams agree with me on this,” Silver said, estimating that about half of the league’s clubs are in favor of the switch.

He said the NBA and the players’ union are “in active discussions” about that policy and he said any change probably wouldn’t happen before the 2022 season. That’s because some teams already have traded away picks in upcoming drafts, and because that is the year current freshmen in high school would be eligible to head to the pros.

___

More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

The Western Journal has not reviewed this Associated Press story prior to publication. Therefore, it may contain editorial bias or may in some other way not meet our normal editorial standards. It is provided to our readers as a service from The Western Journal.

Truth and Accuracy

Submit a Correction →



We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.

Tags:
,
Share
The Associated Press is an independent, not-for-profit news cooperative headquartered in New York City. Their teams in over 100 countries tell the world’s stories, from breaking news to investigative reporting. They provide content and services to help engage audiences worldwide, working with companies of all types, from broadcasters to brands. Photo credit: @AP on Twitter
The Associated Press was the first private sector organization in the U.S. to operate on a national scale. Over the past 170 years, they have been first to inform the world of many of history's most important moments, from the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and the bombing of Pearl Harbor to the fall of the Shah of Iran and the death of Pope John Paul.

Today, they operate in 263 locations in more than 100 countries relaying breaking news, covering war and conflict and producing enterprise reports that tell the world's stories.
Location
New York City




Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. Advertise Today.

Conversation