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Duke hires Celtics assistant, former WNBA star Kara Lawson as women's hoops coach

Cassandra Negley
WNBA and women's college basketball reporter
·2 min read

Kara Lawson will be the next head coach of the Duke women’s basketball program after accepting the position on Saturday.

Joanne P. McCallie stepped down as Duke’s head coach last week after 13 years. She was entering the final year of her contract and said she wanted to bring “clarity” instead of “uncertainty” to the program. The team went 18-12 overall, but 12-6 in ACC play.

Lawson quickly became a favorite for the job.

Lawson made history with Celtics

Boston Celtics assistant coach Kara Lawson during the first half on an NBA basketball game against the Toronto Raptors in Boston, Saturday, Dec. 28, 2019. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

Lawson served as an assistant coach with the Boston Celtics in the 2019-20 season after the team made her the first female assistant coach in franchise history last July. She was one of 11 female assistants in the NBA this past season.

She is the first Black head coach in Duke program history. Lawson is the second Black woman to be hired in the ACC this offseason, joining Notre Dame’s Niele Ivey, and the third Black woman head coach in the league, joining Virginia’s Tina Thompson. Ivey spent a season as the Memphis Grizzlies assistant coach and all three women were WNBA stars.

There have been calls in recent years to hire more female coaches, an issue brought to the national stage by former Irish coach Muffet McGraw at the 2019 NCAA women’s tournament.

Lawson’s basketball resume began with Tennessee

Lawson, 39, starred at the University of Tennessee under Hall of Fame coach Pat Summitt and made three Final Four appearances for the Lady Vols.

She spent 13 seasons in the WNBA, winning the title in 2005 with the Sacramento Monarchs. After the Monarchs folded following the 2009 season, Lawson joined the Connecticut Sun for four years and the Washington Mystics for two.

In 2008, she won gold with Team USA at the Bejing Olympics. Following her 2015 retirement, she spent time as a TV analyst primarily for the Washington Wizards and with ESPN for NBA and college basketball games.

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