Nancy Lieberman Is Still a Pioneer

BOISE, Idaho -- On the last day of the D-League Showcase, many of the scouts and agents that invested 12 hours a day for the first part of the week checked out early on Thursday, having seen what they came to Boise to see.

One person still in attendance fielded questions all week on if she'd planned on staying all week.

"It's weird. People have been asking if I'll be here all week or if I was just making an appearance," she said. "It's like, huh? I came here to learn -- I'll be here all four days. I want to meet everyone I can, learn how coaches play different situations and evaluate the talent around the league."

That person was Nancy Lieberman, head coach of the yet-to-be named D-League franchise in Frisco, Texas, which is slated to begin play next season under an ownership group that includes Dallas Mavericks president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson.

Lieberman's experience is similar to many of the coaches in the D-League in that she's played and coached professionally in some of the best leagues in the world.

"Donnie told me after he looked through all of the resumes without the names, mine was the one that stood out," she said, explaining the decision by Donnie Nelson to hire Lieberman as the head coach. "He said, 'Somewhere in the world, there's a little girl I haven't met with the dream of being an NBA coach someday. By hiring you, she'll have that opportunity when she grows up.' "

Lieberman is recognized as the only woman to play in an all-male league, the United States Basketball League with the Springfield Fame in1986 and the Long Island Knights in 1987. The following season, Lieberman toured the world with the Harlem Globetrotters as a member of the Washington Generals. In 1997, Lieberman came out of retirement and was drafted by the Phoenix Mercury during the inaugural season of the WNBA.

"My players will quickly realize that I've been through what they've been through and I can help them develop off and on the court into who they want to be."
- Nancy Lieberman During her time as a professional player, Lieberman reached several milestones, including an induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a player in 1996 and an induction into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 1999. She's also enshrined in the NYC Basketball Hall of Fame and the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame.

"My players will quickly realize that I've been through what they've been through and I can help them develop off and on the court into who they want to be," said Lieberman. "I didn't play in the USBL for two weeks, I played for two years."

Lieberman's coaching credentials include being named general manager and head coach of the WNBA's Detroit Shock in 1998 until 2000. In her first season, she helmed the team to the highest winning percentage of any expansion team in professional sports and was runner-up for coach of the year. She was also head coach of the Dallas Fury of the NWBL in 2004. Her team was a champion her first season and a finalist the following year. In the offseason, she often runs basketball camps in the Dallas area.

Nelson is one of her biggest supporters, alluding to her hiring being "what Martin Luther King marched for," and coaches and front office personnel around the NBA and the D-League both seem to be firm believers that she won't be in over her head next November.

Now that she'll have head coaching experience in both the WNBA and the NBA D-League, could the NBA be the next frontier for the pioneering Lieberman?

"It definitely could be," said Spud Webb, former NBA player and president of basketball operations for the Frisco franchise. "It is the development league, isn't it?"

Along with Spud Webb, current Nets assistant coach Del Harris is also expected to be in the front office, serving as the general manager.

Scott Schroeder blogs obsessively about minor league hoops year-round at Ridiculous Upside