LOS ANGELES – Sometimes great things happen to people all at the same time, just one week where everything seems to go your way. For Los Angeles Sparks guard Kristi Toliver, this was one of those weeks.
Toliver first hit a game-tying fade-away jumper against the Atlanta Dream at the buzzer to send the game into overtime, where the Sparks ultimately won. It was a shot that would’ve made the late great Kobe Bryant smile since he hit thousands of those at Staples Center for 20 years.
Two days later, Toliver got more great news as she was named as an assistant coach for the Dallas Mavericks joining the staff of newly hired head coach Jason Kidd. She will have the opportunity to bring her experience, high basketball IQ, and impressive resume back to the NBA and impart that knowledge on a rising star in Luka Doncic.
This will be Toliver’s second job on an NBA coaching staff. While playing for the Washington Mystics, she spent parts of two seasons with the Washington Wizards in 2018 and 2019 as an assistant for now ex-head coach Scott Brooks.
Toliver is excited and thankful for the opportunity to join Kidd’s staff and working with him and a talented young squad in Dallas.
“As far as (working) with Jason and the Mavs, super excited,” Toliver said. “It is a great opportunity that I’m excited to be a part of. Jason is a player, a Hall of Famer, great coach, and somebody that I’m going to learn a lot from. I’m just excited for the opportunity to be back in the NBA and to continue to grow as a coach in that position.”
“I still have a lot to learn, but I’ll continue to be that sponge and offer all I can to that team,” Toliver continued. “I’m excited to be alongside Luka and company. A great team, great players, and I couldn’t be more thankful for the opportunity.”
Head coach/GM Derek Fisher feels Toliver getting hired as an assistant coach in Dallas is a barrier-breaker for women who want to coach in the NBA.
“We’re very happy for her. She is very, very intentional about her love and passion for the game, and continue to be a part of it in a major way,” Fisher said. “To have an opportunity like that in Dallas is amazing, it’s great. The growth and evolution of coaching and teaching, hopefully (it goes) beyond labels in terms of gender and color. We’re just all trying to do right by the game of basketball.”
Even Sparks’ star Nneka Ogwumike is excited for her friend and teammate as well as the location of where Toliver will be coaching since Ogwumike is from Houston.
“I’m excited because she’s my neighbor now. She’s a four hour drive from Houston,” Ogwumike said with a smile.
“Being able to play with a player like Kristi is amazing because you’re playing with a coach,” Ogwumike continued. “On both ends of the court, she really lives up to what she teaches. It’s obviously an honor to always play with ‘K-Tizzle’ and I just want to keep winning with her.”
Ogwumike still wants to continue playing with Toliver and she joked that this better not signal the end of Toliver’s playing career.
“I want her to obviously shine as a coach, but she can’t stop being a player for me…not until I say so,” Ogwumike said with a smile.
Toliver is clearly at the twilight of her career and is passionate about being a coach. These opportunities to coach in the NBA in any capacity are a way for her to learn how to develop and communicate with players so that one day she could be the one leading a team.
For Kidd, Doncic, and the rest of the Dallas Mavericks, they understand what Toliver is bringing to the table. They’re getting one of the more accomplished players at the point guard position in WNBA history on their bench. There is no doubt Toliver will help those young players continue to grow, improve, and add a level of efficiency and substance to their games.
