“I’ve Kind of Leaned Into Her”: Mercury Head Coach Nate Tibbetts Shares His Experience With Diana Taurasi Ahead of His Rookie Year

Diana Taurasi has had one of the longest careers in the WNBA. In her 20 years, she has only worn one jersey and that is for the team who will soon be raising banners in their ‘Reimagined Ring of Honor’ ceremony, the Phoenix Mercury. Hence, whenever there’s a crucial decision to be made for the team, she comes up in the discussion to add her views. Consequently, it only made sense for their new head coach Nate Tibbetts to ask the team’s GOAT to help him navigate the uncharted territories. But how did she exactly help him move from the post of an assistant coach in the NBA to the head coach in the WNBA?

Talking to the reporters, Mercury’s latest head coach praised the WNBA icon. He said, “Having DT has been unbelievable for me. This whole off-season I’ve kind of leaned into her, BG, and Sophie just from an experience standpoint. Those relationships with those three have grown over the course of time.”

Continuing on how Taurasi has helped him understand the team, he added, “I sat down with DT today after shootaround and talked about a couple of different situations. So, having her here is so big. For me, a new coach coming into a league, her experiences and what she has seen.”

Back in October 2023, Phoenix announced their plan to hire the Orlando Magic‘s assistant coach Tibbetts as their new head coach. While the decision surely sent some shockwaves through the basketball world, the team welcomed him open-heartedly. So much so that Diana Taurasi sat in the front row during his introductory press conference to show her support. She also made a promise to the WNBA’s highest-paid head coach.

Diana Taurasi and her promise to Nate Tibbetts

Tibbetts was in the NBA for a long time as an assistant coach. He got to work with the likes of Kyrie Irving in Cleveland and Damian Lillard in Portland. Hence, he brought a lot of systems and strategies that worked in men’s basketball to apply to his WNBA team. Following the same, Taurasi gave him her word that she’d play defense in the following season as he was being recruited.

Jesse Morrison of the ‘Next hoops’ announced it on his X account. His tweet read, “Tibbetts said Diana Taurasi promised him she would play defense next season.”

Diana Taurasi is a dominant force on both ends of the floor. It will be interesting to see how she twists her playing style to suffice the team’s needs this season. Especially, after the team had their worst season last year. Nevertheless, it is good to see how even the coaches are turning to their vets to learn more about the workings of the team.