When Napheesa Collier gave her epic read of WNBA Cathy Engelbert and the executive leadership of the league, she adroitly pointed out several failures. In her missive, Collier spoke about the league’s failure to address officiating issues, player health and safety, arguing that the WNBA has the “worst leadership.”

Who could forget during the 2025 WNBA All-Star Game that the players all donned warm-up shirts that read “Pay Us What You Owe Us,” drawing attention to the pay equity in the league.

But another factor of the “W” that needs immediate examination is the unfathomable absence of Black women coaches in the league.

In 2022, the WNBA had three Black women head coaches: Noelle Quinn (Seattle Storm), Tanisha Wright (Atlanta Dream), and Teresa Weatherspoon (New York Liberty).  

Since that time, all three had been fired; Quinn’s dismissal in September being the league’s latest casualty. Interestingly, two Black men, Tyler Marsh of the Chicago Sky and Sydney Johnson of the Washington Mystics, currently hold head coaching positions.

As of today, this is the first time since 2006 that the WNBA has been without a Black female head coach leading one of its teams. Carolyn Jenkins started the 2006 season as an assistant coach for the Minnesota Lynx and became interim head coach for 11 games following the termination of Suzie McConnell Serio.

The lack of Black women head coaches becomes even more glaring because of the demographics of the league, as the WNBA remains a league made up of a majority of Black women. According to the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport, 63.8% of all  WNBA players identified as Black or African American. 

The lack of Black women head coaches in the WNBA is not due to the talent pool being dry. Current assistant coaches such as Rebekkah Brunson, Briann January, Rena Wakama, and Chelsea Lyles are some names who are viable candidates. Sky assistant Tanisha Wright and former Dallas Wings coach Latricia Trammell (who Los Angeles Sparks coach Lynne Roberts hired as a special assistant) already come with WNBA coaching experience. Additionally, numerous college coaches would jump at the opportunity to show their knowledge of the game in the “W.”

While the league continues to expand, both the Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo have begun their coaching searches, and it would be a tragic commentary on the league to not have a Black woman coaching at least one of these teams going into next season.

As a fan of the league since its inception, I want to see the players get their fair share of the revenue, get the best officials for games, and promote player safety. But what I would really love to see is more Black women sharing their insight into the game as head coaches.

The WNBA is doing a disservice to the players, the fans, and the potential Black hires that they continue to ignore them when they don’t put Black women in head coaching positions. And at this point, it looks intentional.