Los Angeles Sparks guard and two-time WNBA champion Kristi Toliver is signed through the 2022 league season but already has an offseason gig waiting for her.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported Thursday the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks are hiring Toliver as an assistant coach. The 34-year-old is no stranger to such duties, as she spent parts of two previous seasons as an assistant with the Washington Wizards.
As ESPN notes, coaching in the NBA won’t affect Toliver’s playing status through at least next year.
Back in July 2018, Toliver admitted to Kendra Andrews of the Washington Post she was already thinking about the next step of her professional career that will come whenever she steps away as an active player.
“Coaching has always been on my radar just because I want to stay involved in the game,” Toliver said at that time. “I know that I love the NBA; I grew up around the NBA. So, now as I’m getting older . . . it’s like, ‘Okay, let me see if coaching is what I want to pursue.’ And it is — 1,000 percent. It would be a dream.”
Toliver is averaging 9.5 points per contest for the Sparks this WNBA campaign.
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