Las Vegas Aces boss Becky Hammon spoke her mind last week, telling CNBC Sport that the WNBA might need "a change in leadership" for the league's CBA talks to successfully progress.
"I just think [player relations] might be too fractured at this point, but we'll see," Hammon said, while also noting that she's had only limited interactions with WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert.
Citing Engelbert's "private conversations...with individual players — or lack of the conversations," Hammon described the commissioner's current relationship with players as "rocky" while describing her widely criticized leadership style.
"I don't know if she can ever regret, retract, and get that traction back from those conversations," the Aces boss posited.
"When the players speak, people need to sit up and listen," she continued. "I think [Engelbert is] sitting up and listening now."
Hammon also voiced support for Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier after the five-time All-Star described the WNBA as having the "worst leadership in the world" in her now-viral 2025 exit interview.
"I completely agree with Napheesa that the players should be making more than coaches," the Las Vegas sideline leader — who publicly earns seven figures per year — continued. "They're due for a huge increase in salary, and it's got to be something that is sustainable. That's the biggest thing you got to remember, that this league is still a young league."
Ultimately, while the 2025 WNBA season is over, CBA concerns loom large over the league's current offseason and 2026 campaign, leaving Hammon and others looking to avoid a lockout as the November 30th extension deadline nears.
The Toronto Tempo has officially landed a sideline leader, with the 2026 WNBA expansion team announcing ex-New York Liberty boss Sandy Brondello as their inaugural head coach on Tuesday — and making her one of the league's highest-paid coaches in the process.
"This is the place I wanted to be," Brondello said during her introductory press conference. "To build a team from the ground up — that really excited me."
Brondello joins the Toronto Tempo as a two-time championship-winning coach, claiming her first title with the Phoenix Mercury in 2014 before taking the New York Liberty to the top in 2024.
The first-ever Canadian WNBA team is also doubling down on their choice, with multiple reports valuing Brondello's multi-year contract at over $1 million annually.
The 57-year-old Australian — a three-time Olympic medalist as a player — will join the Mercury's Nate Tibbetts and Las Vegas Aces boss Becky Hammon as the only known WNBA coaches earning seven-figure salaries.
That said, Brondello could have banked even more, with Front Office Sports reporting that a different WNBA team offered her a more lucrative offer, but Brondello deemed Toronto a better fit.
"From my first conversations with the Tempo organization, it was clear we share the same vision: to build a world-class franchise that competes at the highest level, to create a strong and dynamic culture, and to root everything we do in clear and consistent values," Brondello said in team statement.
"This is a place that's serious about doing things the right way — about excellence, about people, about community — and that's exactly the kind of environment every coach wants to be part of."
As the offseason coaching carousel nears its final turn, teams are stretching resources as they prep for big spending — and a contentious new CBA — in 2026.
Las Vegas Aces head coach Becky Hammon is stepping into the spotlight, with Variety announcing that the three-time WNBA title-winning boss will star in a forthcoming documentary from NFL athlete-backed production houses SMAC and 2463 Entertainment.
"For decades, women on the hardwood [were] underestimated and told to stay in their lane," said SMAC CEO and co-founder Constance Schwartz-Morini. "Becky defied every expectation and broke through barriers that once seemed unshakable."
Schwartz-Morini, Fred Anthony Smith, Ajay Sangha, and Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Sean Clifford will serve as executive producers, joined by 2463 founder and Super Bowl champion wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. as well as SMAC founder and retired New York Giants defensive end Michael Strahan.
Through audio diaries, the documentary will provide an inside look at Hammon's rise up the WNBA coaching ranks as well as her experience as the first woman to serve as an acting head coach for an NBA team, with Hammon taking the reins of the San Antonio Spurs in 2020.
A six-time WNBA All-Star during her playing career, Hammon left the NBA for Las Vegas at the end of 2021, leading the Aces to three championships in four years.
The report didn't specify the film's title or scheduled release date, with more details expected in the coming months.
Incoming 2026 WNBA expansion side Portland sprung a leak this week, prematurely introducing NBA assistant Alex Sarama of the Cleveland Cavaliers as the inaugural head coach for the Fire on LinkedIn early Tuesday morning before pulling the post.
Shortly following the retracted news, the Fire did official announce that WNBA veteran Ashley Battle will join the team as VP of basketball operations, strategy, and innovation.
Per a Front Office Sports report, Portland is currently on track to announce Sarama's hiring in the coming days, though the parties are still working to finalize a contract.
Sarama falls in line with the WNBA's recent turn to the NBA pipeline, with the Phoenix Mercury bringing on head coach Nate Tibbetts from the Orlando Magic in 2023, the Las Vegas Aces tapping Becky Hammon from the San Antonio Spurs in 2021, and Hammon herself hiring now-Golden State Valkyries boss Natalie Nakase from the LA Clippers in 2022.
Sarama also has experience with Portland Fire GM Vanja Černivec, after both spent time working for the British Basketball League's London Lions.
While the rollout might have come early, Portland now has their basketball staff in place as the WNBA enters an uncertain offseason dictated by tense CBA negotiations.
The Las Vegas Aces won the 2025 WNBA Championship in Friday's Game 4, sweeping the Phoenix Mercury to put a bow on the league's longest-ever season — while also starting the clock on its next CBA.
"We have great players," Aces guard Chelsea Gray told reporters, stressing the importance of the upcoming deal after helping secure Las Vegas's third title in four years. "You need to treat them like that."
Like many teams across the league, the Aces have just one player under contract for 2026 — rookie Aaliyah Nye — after a rash of now-free agents opted to sign one-year contracts in anticipation of salary shifts in the upcoming CBA.
With the October 31st deadline looming, negotiations are likely to extend past that mark amid mounting tensions between players and WNBA commissioner Cathy Englebert in recent weeks.
"I think they'll work it out somehow, I hope — I haven't been consulted," said Aces owner Mark Davis.
Davis also joked about making Becky Hammon the best-paid head coach in the WNBA, with the Las Vegas manager currently pulling in $1 million annually — four times the single-year supermax player contract under the league's current CBA.
Salary structure a tipping point in WNBA CBA negotiations
As for the players union, the WNBPA says they're aiming to expand revenue sharing, while the league is reportedly looking to keep salary structures mostly intact.
"It's basically the same system that we exist in right now," WNBPA president Nneka Ogwumike told ESPN in August. "When you approach it from the perspective of their response to our proposal, yes, money is more, but ultimately if you look at the growth of the business, the money relative to the percentage of everything is virtually staying the same."
According to Front Office Sports, the most recent WNBA offer included an $850,000 supermax contract plus a veteran minimum near $300,000.
The WNBA will likely have until the end of 2025 to strike a deal, but with little common ground emerging thus far, the potential for a work stoppage looms large.
WNBA officiating is once again taking center stage, with multiple head coaches reportedly issued fines after criticizing referee conduct in the weekend's playoff action.
Minnesota head coach Cheryl Reeve earned an ejection and suspension for attempting to confront referees during the Lynx's Game 3 semifinals loss on Friday, with the WNBA later handing her a $15,000 fine for lambasting officials in her postgame interview.
"The officiating crew that we had tonight, for the leadership to deem those three people semifinals playoff worth is f—ing malpractice," Reeve told reporters last Friday.
Following Reeve's suspension, Indiana Fever head coach Stephanie White and Las Vegas Aces head coach Becky Hammon voiced public support for Reeve and her concerns, with sources saying they each received a $1,000 fine for their comments.
"[Reeve] made a lot of valid points," White said on Sunday. "A lot of the same kind of conversations are happening. It's happening from every team, from every franchise, from every coach, from every player."
"From what I heard, she did not tell a lie," Hammon said of Reeve. "She said the truth. I think something has to change."
Officiating problems aren't new for the WNBA, but as the league's popularity explodes, refereeing disparities are now under an unprecedented spotlight.
"Every part of our league has gotten better, and that part has lagged behind, for whatever reason," White continued. "Oftentimes, it's infrastructure in terms of training, oftentimes, it's financial. And it's really investing in who we have as officials.... How do we keep them growing and getting better?"
Minnesota competed without their sideline leader in Sunday's 86-81 Game 4 semifinals loss, as the No. 4 Phoenix Mercury ousted the No. 1 Lynx while head coach Cheryl Reeve served a one-game suspension following her ejection from Friday's Game 3.
In the dying seconds of Friday's 84-76 loss, a collision caused Minnesota star Napheesa Collier to collapse with an ankle injury.
In reaction, Reeve ran onto the court as her staff worked to restrain her, earning the Lynx boss her second technical foul of the game for confronting the officials.
"The officiating crew that we had tonight, for the leadership to deem those three people semifinal-playoff worthy, it's f—ing malpractice," Reeve said after the game.
In a Saturday statement, the league said that Reeve's suspension stemmed from "aggressively pursuing and verbally abusing a game official on the court, [and] failure to leave the court in a timely manner upon her ejection," as well as "inappropriate comments made to fans when exiting the court, and remarks made in a post-game press conference."
Officiating has been under fire throughout the 2025 WNBA Playoffs, with coaches like Golden State Valkyries' boss Natalie Nakase and Las Vegas Aces leader Becky Hammon expressing concerns about the quality and consistency of postseason calls.
"If this is what the league wants, okay, but I want to call for a change of leadership at the league level when it comes to officiating," said Reeve.
With support from the National Basketball Referees Association, the three-person officiating crew from Friday's Game 3 in Minnesota also oversaw Sunday's Game 4 between the No. 2 Aces and No. 6 Fever in Indiana.
The Liberty have officially parted ways with head coach Sandy Brondello, with the franchise announcing that it will not renew her contract for the 2026 season on Tuesday — less than one year after the manager led New York to a first-ever WNBA title.
The move follows the No. 5-seed Liberty's first-round exit from the 2025 WNBA Playoffs, with the reigning champs falling to the No. 4 Phoenix Mercury in a winner-take-all Game 3 last Friday.
"Sandy finishes her tenure in New York as the winningest coach in franchise history, and she took us to never-before-seen heights as the first head coach to lead the Liberty to a championship," New York GM Jonathan Kolb said in a franchise statement on Tuesday. "We wish Sandy the very best in her next chapter."
The firing of Brondello sent shockwaves across the WNBA, with many questioning the unprecedented move — particularly considering that New York Liberty dealt with numerous high-profile injuries throughout the 2025 season.
"I didn't love it for Sandy, I'm gonna have to be honest," Las Vegas Aces head coach Becky Hammon told reporters following the news about Brondello. "She just won a championship, she has wins in other places, and I know her to be a quality coach and a quality person."
"I am absolutely thrilled if I am Seattle, Toronto, and Portland that I was just gifted a championship-level coach," echoed Minnesota Lynx manager Cheryl Reeve. "I think a lot of Sandy, personally and professionally."
With Brondello's dismissal, the WNBA has only three head coaches with more than one season under their belt: Hammon, Reeve, and the second-year Mercury boss Nate Tibbetts.
When the WNBA announced that Golden State Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase won the 2025 Coach of the Year award last week, the honor underlined an incredible year for new coaching talent in women's basketball as this year's playoffs continue.
Nakase made headlines all season, leading Golden State to a historic playoff berth in the 2025 expansion side's first year. She stocked a brand new roster that excited fans across the country, and built the team's locker room culture from scratch. The result was flashy, modern basketball, based on playing hard, stretching the floor, and keeping the on-court tempo high.
"Her unique approach to leadership and ability to hold players accountable with care, while staying true to her values has been remarkable," Golden State GM Ohemaa Nyanin said of the debut head coach.
And as end-of-year award momentum grew, Nakase took the attention in stride.
"Nobody really cares [about awards], honestly," she said in early September. "I'm just being deadass, our goal is to make the playoffs. To think about it, it really should be coaching staff of the year."
Nakase's success is just another example of a league that's changing, as the coaching carousel widens and new philosophies enter the game, while younger prospects take on the mantle of head coach for the first time. Minnesota's Cheryl Reeve, New York's Sandy Brondello, and Las Vegas's Becky Hammon have become synonymous with the WNBA's elite, but new entrants like Nakase alongside Atlanta's Karl Smesko and Phoenix's Nate Tibbetts are infusing the league with new ideas — all while leading their teams to historic playoff berths.
A new generation of WNBA coaches make their marks
Even with coaching staff experience, becoming the head coach of a professional basketball franchise is never easy, Tibbetts told JWS earlier this month. He made the leap to the head coaching ranks in 2024, after spending more than 10 years as an assistant coach with multiple NBA teams including the Portland Trail Blazers and Orlando Magic.
"Any time you slide over those 12 inches, and go from one seat to the next seat, there's just changes," he said, noting that having the power of final say inevitably adds a whole new level of responsibility.
"When you're a head coach, you make decisions every day, and it's not just basketball stuff," he continued. "That is probably the thing that overwhelms you."
Nakase also entered the WNBA armed with NBA experience, joining Hammon's Las Vegas staff as an assistant in 2022 after a successful stint with the LA Clippers. She later moved into the head coach's box with two league championships under her belt, announced as Golden State's inaugural boss in 2024 before immediately setting a tone for the team's future.
"I'm taking a little bit of everything [from my past]," Nakase told JWS ahead of the 2025 season. "And I'm still constantly learning."
She recalled helping the Aces through their first title run in 2022, applying her small ball experience with the NBA to the team's matchup with the Connecticut Sun. "I remember Becky being super open with ideas, just kind of taking [that series] by the horns," she said.
In California, Nakase fell in line as a collaborative leader, transforming the squad from an unfamiliar lineup to a unified force by the end of their first regular season.
"An assistant coaching role is way different than a head coaching role, but who Natalie is to the core has stayed the same," current Valkyries — and former Aces — guard Kate Martin recently told San Francisco Chronicle. "She wants the best out of us. She's going to love you up, but also tell you what needs to be fixed — what you need to do to be better. And I think you can always appreciate that from a coach."
Over in Atlanta, Smesko's background looked a little different. He coached at the college level, successfully leading Florida Gulf Coast for more than 20 years before making the leap to the pros in 2025. He was known as an analytic wonk in NCAA circles, earning tournament berths on a strict system of three-pointers and post layups. Though he knew working with professionals required a slightly different approach.
"I was pleasantly surprised how coachable and how eager the players at the W level are to learn," he recently told JWS. "They want to be good. They want to be taught things that are going to help them become better players."
Smesko's biggest learning curve was less about responsibility, and more tied to process. He was surprised how much less time he had to implement systems in the fast-moving WNBA, where professionals tend to be less immersed in day-to-day basketball operations than student-athletes on a college campus.
"I think that forces you, as a coach, to really be deliberate and efficient," he said of the shift. "What are the things you're going to cover, and what are you going to try to get better at that particular day?"
The rookie coaches behind the WNBA's three-point revolution
Instituting a stretch offense — where guards and forwards pose legitimate threats from outside while opening interior space up inside for post players who can shoot — has been an ongoing project in the WNBA, and the league's newest coaching class has continued its evolution.
Basketball legend Candace Parker popularized the approach as a player in the 2010s, with Hammon later embracing it as a way to get the most out of versatile Aces forward A'ja Wilson.
While Smesko and his set certainly aren't draconian in their methods, stretch offenses have exploded in popularity this season. The highest-performing teams have consistently proven comfortable taking a healthy mix of shots from behind the arc. Nakase's Valkyries led the WNBA in regular-season three-pointers made with 427, followed closely by fellow postseason contenders Atlanta and Phoenix.
While established coaches like Brondello and Reeve also encourage players to let it fly, stretch offense devotees Nakase, Smesko, and Tibbetts helmed the year's top three teams in attempted three-pointers — with each landing more three-pointers than 2024's stat-leading team.
"It's just more space for everybody to work, more actual area for defense to cover and respect," Smesko said, noting that offensive decisions get easier when the opposing defense has to cover more ground.
Tibbetts credits the way the stretch system has entered the conversation at all levels. Coaching staffs are teaching players to optimize their points-per-shot percentage, essentially setting up every offensive action to be as efficient as possible well before they launch a high-value shot.
"[It's] just maximizing shot attempts, getting your players to understand the true values of what a shot looks like from a points-per-shot basis," he summarized.
Phoenix registered the third-highest regular-season pace of play in the WNBA in 2025, allowing for more possessions per quarter, and subsequently more shot attempts — not to mention a higher volume of three-pointer attempts. Roster construction also played into it, with Tibbetts and the Mercury's front office making sure to surround veteran inside players like MVP finalist Alyssa Thomas with teammates that understand how to push tempo and create space.
No matter what system you run, of course, any good coach also knows it's all about balance. "I don't think you need to overdo it," said Tibbetts. "There's a ton of smart players in our league."
Chasing WNBA teams — and coaches — at the top
There have long been plenty of smart coaches in the WNBA. And to some extent, Nakase, Smesko, and Tibbetts all run similar offenses to the league's current titans of success: Brondello, Reeve, and Hammon.
"We're all trying to catch those three," Tibbetts said, wondering aloud if WNBA teams have been casting wider hiring nets in an attempt to increase parity at the coaching level. "We've done a good job of adding talent in our league, but those three are the top tier, and we're all trying to get to that level."
Hammon received two WNBA Coach of the Year votes in the wake of Vegas's 30-14 run, while Reeves received two votes for her work leading the regular season's winningest team.
"All those teams have great players, and they're just very well coached," Smesko added, giving the Aces, Liberty, and Lynx props. "They're very disciplined. They have a plan. They follow that plan."
In Phoenix, Tibbetts posited that league experience and the proven ability to handle adversity make coaches like these difficult to de-throne.
"It's not like we're reinventing the game. They've been doing it, and now they've all got championships under their belt," Tibbetts said. "Nothing is new to them when it comes to this league."
Putting coaching perspectives to the postseason test
The new WNBA coaching class saw quantifiable regular-season success, but the first round of the 2025 playoffs emphasized that there's still room to grow before they truly threaten the WNBA's tactical elite.
Nakase's No. 8 seed Valkyries had their hands full against Reeve's No. 1 Lynx, ceding the series to the top seed in two games, despite a competitive final matchup at home. And despite sending the reigning league champion Liberty home with last week's decisive Game 3 win, Tibbetts's Mercury is off to a 0-1 semifinal start against Minnesota.
Smesko's Atlanta side also faced stumbling blocks, as the No. 3 seed suffered a last-minute Game 3 upset to No. 6 Indiana, stamping a successful season with a frustrating ending at home.
A playoffs exit stings, but it's far from a major setback for these early-career coaches. They value the intangibles over the Xs and Os, and players have responded to their guidance in kind.
"The organization as a whole, it's in a great direction," Atlanta guard Allisha Gray said after the Dream's final loss. "Karl, he has so much faith in us, and we proved a lot of people wrong this year."
"I just credit 'Big Wheeze' [AKA Smekso] for the turnaround," Gray continued. "He did a great job this year and brought the vision, and we believed in it."
Regardless of their postseason performance, the Valkyries have taken Golden State by storm, selling out their home slate while establishing themselves as Northern California's premier women's sports franchise. Nakase has embraced the warm welcome, developing a reputation for supporting her players and not being afraid to speak her mind.
"I love playing for a fiery coach who always wants to win and believes in her players so much," Martin said. "That hasn't strayed from Vegas to here, her belief in every single player she's coached."
It's eyes on the prize for this WNBA coaching class
While vital, coaching is just one ingredient in any team's success. And Smesko believes that the WNBA's competitive upswing is primarily fueled by one thing: the talent in the locker room.
"There's never been as many great players as there are right now," he reflected. "Combined with the movement that everyone is adopting, it leads to a really fun style to watch."
Even as their postseason hopes ebb, this generation of WNBA coaching talent is eager to get started on the future — especially as the league continues to pick up steam in both popularity and parity.
"The game is evolving, the sport is evolving," said Tibbetts. "But I think more than anything, it's just all the new eyes on this game."
Despite falling from the playoffs on Wednesday night, Golden State Valkyries head coach Natalie Nakase is still ending her season on a win, with the WNBA naming the first-year expansion team sideline boss the 2025 Coach of the Year this week.
Nakase picked up 53 out of the sports media panel's 72 votes to take the title, with fellow sideline rookie Karl Smesko (Atlanta Dream) trailing with 15 votes while veteran leaders Becky Hammon (Las Vegas Aces) and Cheryl Reeve (Minnesota Lynx) tied for third place with two votes apiece.
"What this does, is it reflects on [our] whole organization," said Nakase, sharing credit with her team and staff. "Without [the players], we wouldn't have had a winning season and we wouldn't be where I am today now."
Golden State made WNBA expansion history under Nakase
In leading Golden State to a 23-21 regular season — a league record for wins by an expansion team in their first campaign — Nakase also minted the Valkyries as the first-ever expansion franchise to make the WNBA Playoffs in their debut season.
That success came from the team's strong defense, as the Valkyries held opponents to a league-wide low in both points per game (76.3) and field goal percentage (40.5%) on the year.
Before joining the Valkyries, Nakase served as an assistant coach in Las Vegas, helping guide the Aces to back-to-back championships in 2022 and 2023.
"Natalie has been a fierce leader from the very moment she was announced as head coach," said Golden State GM Ohemaa Nyanin. "Her core philosophy of connectivity and emphasis on high character has created an environment where everyone can thrive. Her unique approach to leadership and ability to hold players accountable with care while staying true to her values has been remarkable."
"I love playing for a fiery coach who always wants to win and believes in her players so much," said Valkyries — and former Aces — guard Kate Martin.