THE Washington Mystics are undergoing a shake-up of their coaching staff and front office.
The franchise has parted ways with general manager Mike Thibault and his son, Eric Thibault, who had been the team’s coach for two seasons, the Mystics announced Wednesday.
“After careful consideration and conversation, we have decided that we are at a point in our competitive and evolving cycle where we need to hand the team over to new leadership with a renewed vision to chart our path to the future of WNBA basketball,” Monumental Basketball President Michael Winger said in a statement.
Mike Thibault has been with the Mystics for over a decade in various roles. He joined the franchise before the 2013 season as coach/general manager and led the Mystics to their first title in 2019. Thibault won Coach of the Year (in 2013) and during his tenure as head coach, he led Washington to eight titles. playoff appearances. He retired from WNBA coaching after the 2022 season as the winningest regular season coach in league history to lead the team’s basketball operations full time.
Eric had been Washington’s coach for the past two years after spending 10 as an assistant coach with the Mystics. Washington has dealt with key injuries or absences during his two years at the helm of the franchise, reaching the playoffs in 2023 and being one game away from doing so this year, despite opening the season 0 -12.
“Coach Eric is a talented coach and an equally talented motivator,” Winger said. “Our players are fortunate to have played for Eric over the past two seasons, as have many other players in this league over the decades to come.”
The move marks a significant new direction for the franchise, which is now overseen by Winger. Monumental Basketball hired Winger in May 2023 as president of the parent company of the Mystics, the NBA G League’s Capital City Go-Go and the NBAIt’s the Washington Wizards. He was previously the general manager of the NBA’s LA Clippers.
When Winger was hired, team owner Ted Leonisis provided him with the authority to reorganize Wizards infrastructure. He did just that, trading away longtime franchise star and shooting guard Bradley Beal and shooting coach Wes Unseld Jr. last January.
Wednesday’s announcement marks his first significant public move involving the Mystics.
The decision to part ways with Eric means five of the league’s 12 teams will have made coaching changes since the end of the regular season (not counting new expansion franchise Golden State Valkyries who hired their first coach , Natalie Nakase, earlier this month). . THE Dallas Wings, Chicago Sky, The Sparks of Los Angeles And Dream of Atlanta are all looking for a new head coach. There are now also two general manager positions – in Dallas and Washington.
During the 2024 WNBA Finals, Minnesota coach and president of basketball operations Cheryl Reeve commented on the wave of layoffs, linking it, in part, to the newfound interest in the sport.
“Are we in unprecedented times? Are we in this space where people want to capitalize and feel like they need something different? » said Reeve, who has been with the Lynx since 2010 and is the longest-serving coach in the league. “Maybe that’s kind of where the energy that you’re seeing is coming from, these leaders making these decisions.”
This article was originally published in Athletics.
Washington Mystics, WNBA
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