Roommates, we stan a progressive man in charge, and NBA Commissioner Adam Silver is just that! He is calling for the league to get with the times, and hire more women as referees and coaches.
According to CNN, Silver spoke at the Economic Club Of Washington this week, saying he wants women to make up half of all new referees joining the NBA. Adding that he wants teams to hire female coaches as well.
“It’s an area, frankly, where I’ve acknowledged that I’m not sure how it was that it remained so male-dominated for so long,” Silver said. “Because it’s an area of the game where physically, certainly, there’s no benefit to being a man, as opposed to a woman, when it comes to refereeing.”
There are currently only three female referees in the league, a number that Silver wants to increase tremendously.
“The goal is going forward, it should be roughly 50-50 of new officials entering the league,” he said. “Same for coaches, by the way. We have a program, too. There’s no reason why women shouldn’t be coaching men’s basketball.”
The history tells itself, as the league has never had a female head coach. Beck Hammon became the first female full-time assistant coach back in 2014, with the San Antonio Spurs.
More history was made when Kristi Toliver of the WNBA’s Washington Mystics joined the NBA’s Washington Wizards as part of t he assistant coach development staff. She became the first active WNBA player working as an NBA assistant coach.
But, Adam Silver says that’s just not cutting it. We hope to see more women on the court in the upcoming season!
