Overview

• Staley confirmed she had a formal interview with the Knicks this summer during the search to replace Tom Thibodeau.
• She said she would have accepted an offer from New York, noting she would not take just any NBA job.
• Staley recounted asking why she was in the candidate pool and how hiring the NBA’s first female head coach would affect executives’ daily jobs, after which she felt the room’s energy change.
• Reporting says she impressed the Knicks’ leadership but was not a finalist before the team hired veteran coach Mike Brown in early July.
• Staley remains under contract at South Carolina through 2029–30 as the league still awaits its first full‑time female NBA head coach, even as women hold more assistant and G League roles.