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Boston Celtics Reportedly Hire Kara Lawson As An Assistant Coach

Source: Theo Wargo / Getty

If you asked anyone before 2014 that would women sitting on the sidelines of NBA franchises coaching men they probably wouldn’t believe you. Thursday (June 27) ESPN reports that the Boston Celtics have hired former WNBA champion and Olympic Gold Medalist Kara Lawson as an assistant coach. Her addition to the Celtics’ coaching staff makes her the fourth woman to do so.

The wave was kicked off by the San Antonio Spurs when they added Becky Hammon to their coaching staff — who coached their summer league squad to a championship in 2015 — saw the Dallas Mavericks follow by hiring Jenny Boucek and the Cleveland Cavaliers’ bringing on Lindsay Gottlieb.

Lawson was a star while attending the University of Tennessee before making the leap to the leap to WNBA where she played for 12 years and winning a championship with the Sacramento Monarchs in 2005. 2007 she was named to the WNBA All-Star team and followed that up a year later bringing home the gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Lawson, 38, joined ESPN as an analyst and also served as a television analyst for the Washington Wizards for the past three seasons. Before reportedly taking the job with the Celtics, she has considered several coaching opportunities before ultimately landing in Boston. It also being reported that Lawson spoke with many NBA franchises before deciding to take the job with the famed Boston franchise.

Lawson, when she officially joins the Celtics coaching staff will not be going in green. She has been coaching the newly constructed USA Basketball 3-on-3 teams that will be competing in the upcoming 2020 Summer Olympics taking place in Tokyo, Japan. It’s moves like the hiring of Lawson that continue to help make the NBA one the more progressive sports leagues in the entire world. We definitely expect more teams to follow suit.

Photo: Theo Wargo / Getty