Teresa Weatherspoon is a head coach again.
One of the most celebrated players in the history of the WNBA, Weatherspoon is less than two months removed from being fired as the Chicago Sky head coach — her first pro head coaching gig after four years as an NBA assistant — after the Sky turned in a 13-27 record and missed the playoffs.
But on Friday, Unrivaled, the 3-on-3 league that’s debuting in January, announced Weatherspoon as one of its six head coaches.
Which team Weatherspoon will coach — there are six, and each roster will have six players — is still a mystery. More information is expected about teams and rosters next week.
Weatherspoon was fired by the Sky on Sept. 27. When news started circulating about the coach’s termination, Chicago first round pick Angel Reese, a star at LSU who led the Tigers to their first national championship, was distraught.
‘I’m literally lost for words knowing what this woman meant to me in such a pivotal point in my life. She was the only person that believed in me. The one that trusted me,’ Reese wrote in a lengthy social media post when the news dropped. ‘Many don’t even know what it’s like to be a black women (sic) in sports when nobody believes in you. You had a tough job. All the crazy circumstances that we went through this year & when your back was against the wall, you always believed. I came to Chicago because of YOU. You were an unsung hero in my life.’
Reese announced in June that she is going to play for Unrivaled in its inaugural season.
Along with Weatherspoon, the league announced its five other head coaches: Phil Handy, Adam Harrington, Nola Henry, DJ Sackmann and Andrew Wade. There was a heavy emphasis placed on coaches who have a history of working with player development.
Outside of Weatherspoon, Handy is the most well known of the group. A longtime NBA assistant, Handy worked for the Lakers last season and has won three NBA championships over his coaching career in stints with Cleveland, Toronto and LA.
Henry was on the Los Angeles Sparks staff during the 2024 season.
Unrivaled was founded by WNBA All-Stars Napheesa Collier of the Minnesota Lynx and Breanna Stewart of the New York Liberty. The idea is to provide WNBA players with an America-based alternative to supplement their WNBA salaries in the offseason. For years, many players have gone to Europe in the winter to keep playing and make money.
Unrivaled has promised to offer players the highest regular average salary in women’s pro sports, plus equity in the league for inaugural members. Exact figures have not been announced, but salaries are expected to exceed six figures. In October, Unrivaled announced it had signed a media deal with TNT to broadcast games in primetime. Email Lindsay Schnell at lschnell@usatoday.com and follow her on social media @Lindsay_Schnell
