#130: 5 candidates that make sense for the New York Liberty

We hardly knew you, Chris DeMarco. It wasn't a shock that the New York Liberty parted ways with DeMarco on Tuesday after one year on the job.

If you believe in body language, you could see it all over DeMarco during the WNBA semifinals when the Liberty were swept by the Atlanta Dream in three games.

Before Game 2, DeMarco looked disinterested, checked out during his pre-game press conference.

Following the game, after the timeout snafu, his fate was all-but sealed when Breanna Stewart said, "do you want to address this or am I" to start the postgame press conference.

It was sealed when DeMarco turned to Marine Fauthoux for the game-tying bucket to send Game 2 into overtime instead of Sabrina Ionescu.

It was kind of sealed with the fanbase when DeMarco, a long-time Golden State Warriors' assistant coach, said that he didn't watch a lot of WNBA before being hired.

He had to navigate injuries, yes, but find me a coach who didn't?

The players were out on him. Multiple sources in the know told me that Ionescu, especially, was out on him, though maintained professionalism and wanted to make it work.

Sources told me last week that the expectation was that DeMarco would be let go after the WNBA Finals wrapped up, though it was on-background until after it happened.

The Liberty took an unconventional path with the decision to hire DeMarco after parting ways with Sandy Brondello after the 2024 season. The same Brondello who led the Liberty to a title the season before.

They have to get this hire right. They have to have input from Stewart, Ionescu, and Jonquel Jones.

There are five names who make sense.

Kristi Toliver (Phoenix Mercury assistant coach)

There's been a push to get Toliver a head coaching job for a few years now, but even when she was still playing with the Mystics, it was no secret that she had coaching in her future.

She was able to fill in this year when head coach Nate Tibbetts felt under the weather in July against the Seattle Storm, and the Mercury won by 23 points.

Toliver was a finalist last year for the job in New York, and she has the pedigree, the system, the experience, and the modern approach to coaching that makes her the easy choice.

She'll be heading to Singapore in late November for Basketball Beyond Borders, so expect an interview to take place after that.

Nola Henry (Las Vegas Aces assistant coach)

Henry is another coach whose profile is on the rise. We saw it in Year 1 in Unrivaled, and since then, the question was when – not if – Henry will coach.

Dallas, for some reason, let her go when they hired Jose Fernandez, so she joined Becky Hammon's staff in Las Vegas.

We know that coaching tree there, right? We saw Natalie Nakase just win a title with Golden State.

She's a player's coach, and she does a great job excelling in the pick-and-roll within her system. With Stewart and Jones being two versatile bigs and elite screeners, it would open up a ton of space for Ionescu and Leonie Fiebich to operate with while being able to exploit mismatches with their elite size.

Teresa Weatherspoon (Unrivaled coach)

Who doesn't want this? Maybe that's not the question. Perhaps the question is does she want this?

T-Spoon is a legend. She made me a fan when I was young, and she got a raw deal in Chicago.

She's found a home in Unrivaled, so does she want to go through the WNBA coaching trials again?

Her relationship with the organization is fantastic, but is there a chance that it could go south if she has the job and it doesn't go as planned?

Kara Lawson (Duke head coach)

Lawson has a great gig at Duke. The school loves her and will do anything it can to keep her there.

But we've seen the success that Lawson can have at the next level during FIBA. She has a built-in relationship with Stewart already, and her defensive-approach can really make the Liberty find its defensive stride thanks to their length.

She has no problem challenging her players at the pro level, and players love playing for her.

Does she want to leave Duke, though? Duke is a private university, so her salary isn't disclosed, but even if we take a conservative approach to say $1 million per year, is it worth the gamble to leave for the WNBA?

Brandi Poole (Atlanta Dream assistant coach)

Maybe it's because I'm around them all of the time, but Atlanta has a fantastic coaching staff. They have two future coaches in the pros or Division-I level with Camryn Brown and Chelsea Lyles, but Poole is a seasoned coach who should be in line for head coaching hires in the next couple of years.

Her experience goes back to 2000 with the original Portland Fire as a director of operations. She's spent time at a number of D-I programs, as well as with the Dallas Wings, Connecticut Sun, and Atlanta Dream.

She's the right-hand person for head coach Karl Smesko, and she's widely respected across the league.