(ThyBlackMan.com) The head coaching carousel in men’s college basketball saw a major spin when Kentucky’s John Calipari left his longtime position as Kentucky men’s basketball head coach for Arkansas. It is also easy to forget that the NBA’s head coaching carousel will begin as well with the 2023-24 regular season coming to a close. One of the most intriguing candidates to become an NBA head coach this cycle is current Stockton Kings head coach Lindsey Harding. The Stockton Kings are the G League affiliate of the NBA’s Sacramento Kings. Harding is one of the candidates for the soon to be vacant Charlotte Hornets head coaching position. If Harding is hired, she would be the first female head coach in NBA history and even if she isn’t hired by the Hornets, Harding should be hired by another NBA organization to lead their NBA team as a head coach for a number of reasons including:
-Her coaching accomplishments
In her first year as the head coach of the Stockton Kings, Lindsey Harding made history as the first woman to be named coach of the year in the NBA G League. It is very impressive that Harding’s team had the best record in the G League at 24-10 during the regular-season. Prior to earning that head coaching position, Harding had been a player development coach for the Sacramento Kings for several seasons as the team has made their ascent in recent seasons from a young, promising NBA team to a solid NBA playoff team. She also had coaching experience as the first head coach of South Sudan’s women’s national team in 2021.
-Her basketball pedigree
Even beyond her own head coaching ability, Lindsey Harding has the basketball background to garner respect from any NBA player. Harding is one of the best Duke basketball players ever, combining both the men’s and women’s all-time greats. Her talents led to her being the first overall pick in the 2007 WNBA Draft and she played in the WNBA for nine years, which is respectable and also means she played in the professional ranks for a number years and will be able to relay that to NBA players in a way that even most NBA head coaches cannot relate.
–Her personality
There have been women in the history of basketball who had the personality to coach men in the NBA had they been given the opportunity and if bigotry and discrimination against women wasn’t so blatant. In recent years, current Las Vegas Aces head coach Becky Hammon has gotten a lot of attention for being a potential NBA head coach in the future while on a much lower level former WNBA player Tamara Moore has been coaching men at Mesabi Range College, a junior college. Lindsey Harding’s coaching experiences and basketball pedigree mixed with her confidence and intelligence makes her a quality NBA head coach candidate. Prior to becoming head coach of South Sudan women’s national team, she once said, “I played women’s basketball at the highest level, coached men at the highest level and now will coach some of the top women’s players in the world. All I ever ask from my players is to compete. Every time they step on the court they must compete,” Lindsey said. That philosophy is transferable and Lindsey Harding is the woman and person to implement that.
Staff Writer; Mark Hines