The WNBA is moving to a new era. Influx of fans, players, and a result-oriented model is forcing a highly demanding culture in the league. While all this is very much acceptable, there is one fact that the WNBA can’t neglect and needs to work on, which is the coaching staff.
The league, which is built by the majority of black women, has no representatives in the coaching department. Seattle Storm’s recent firing of entire coaching staff takes that number to zero, and a WNBA analyst highlights the concerning fact.
WNBA Analyst Backs Black Women in Coaching
As much as the players play a vital role in the league’s development and enhancement, coaches are equally essential. As per the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport, the WNBA is still a majority Black league. In 2023, as many as 63.8% of 141 WNBA players were polled by those identified as Black or African American.
Yet in coaching, the number is very much concerning. WNBA hits an unprecedented low after Seattle Storm fired head coach Noelle Quinn. Talking in the ‘We Need To Talk’ podcast, analyst Ashley Nicole Moss pointed out that there are zero black women coaches in the league, while Tyler Marsh and Sydney Johnson remain the only two black male coaches.
“Women, especially Black women, minority women, have to be twice as good to get a fraction of that grace. And it’s unfair…This is a results business. The fact that the results can even still be there on paper, and it’s still not enough for you to keep your job…For a league that is predominantly black women, all-women, to not having Black women representing these franchises is atrocious to me,” Moss said in the podcast.
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Co-host, Alicia Jay, also showed support for her claims, mentioning the Chicago Sky’s example as the franchise kept faith in Tyler Marsh despite having the worst record in the league, while Teressa Whitherspoon was fired in one season despite having better record. The Storm HC, Quinn, also talked about the difficult situation.
Noelle Quinn Opens Up On Challenges In WNBA
Quinn has been one of the most successful player-coaches in the Seattle Storm’s history. She won the 2018 championship as a player and also led the team to the 2020 championship as an assistant coach. Taking the head coach role in 2021, she was the youngest and only African-American head coach at the time.
During her five-year tenure, she earned the second-most wins in franchise history. But the impressive resume was not enough to keep her place at the top. She once talked about the challenges she faced in the league as the HC.
“It’s important. It gets heavy sometimes, and I don’t talk about it often in front of you guys. It’s an honor, and I’m grateful. But, to be one of only 13 [head coaches], it’s heavy,” Quinn said in a press conference.
Seattle Storm Head Coach Noelle Quinn Discusses Support System, Including Blazers' Pooh Jeter, and Being the Only African American Woman Head Coach in the WNBA:
— Landon Buford (@LandonBuford) August 31, 2025
"It’s important. It gets heavy sometimes, and I don’t talk about it often in front of you guys. It's an honor, and I’m… pic.twitter.com/PzyQXSCIcU
Her silent acknowledgement says it all, proving Moss’s point in the podcast. While the league is moving ahead with the new challenges, there might be one oversight by top management.