If She is not fired, I will leave the Phoenix Mercury head coach.

The Phoenix Mercury confirmed on Sunday that head coach Vanessa Nygaard had been sacked following the team’s 2–10 start to the season. What you should know is as follows:

Before the 2022 season, Nygaard signed with the Mercury, where she played for a while, finishing with a 17-31 record.
For the remainder of the 2023 campaign, Nikki Blue, the lead assistant coach, will serve as the acting head coach.
Phoenix, which has the worst record in the WNBA, lost to the Seattle Storm 97-74 on Saturday.
The Athletic’s immediate assessment:

What did Nygaard do incorrectly?
Due to Brittney Griner’s illegal detention, Nygaard was dealt the worst hand in the WNBA during the previous season, as the anticipated Phoenix team had an absolutely horrible season. Even though the Mercury were without Skylar Diggins-Smith and Diana Taurasi at the close of the season, the coach was entrusted with serving as the team’s spokesman in order to relieve the players of some of the pressure. She performed this role brilliantly and still guided the Mercury to the postseason.

Though Diggins-Smith referred to her coach as a clown on Twitter, and prized free-agent signee Tina Charles requested to leave halfway through the season, Nygaard struggled with some of the interpersonal parts of being a head coach. The star point guard who is on maternity leave may not even be related to Nygaard and Diggins-Smith. The uncertainty surrounding her homecoming and her absence have cast a shadow over Phoenix’s season. — Businessman

Things aren’t going as planned for this season.
Griner’s comeback made it seem likely that the Mercury would make the playoffs again, given that a group of players with similar makeup made it to the WNBA Finals in 2021. Phoenix, however, has by far the lowest net rating. The Mercury are once again plagued by injuries as Diggins-Smith hasn’t played and Griner and Taurasi have missed a combined six games. Nevertheless, the squad frequently appears unprepared and is consistently defeated on the court by the same moves. Save for Griner’s All-Star comeback, the team’s season hasn’t quite gone as planned.

When the Mercury open up the hiring process, keep an eye on Teresa Weatherspoon, a former WNBA star. Phoenix announced that Blue will take over as head coach for the balance of 2023. She was recently fired from her position with the New Orleans Pelicans and was one of the candidates for the position before to Nygaard’s hiring. — Businessman

What they say
In a statement, Mercury general manager Jim Pitman stated, “We have chosen to make a change at head coach.” “We are grateful to Vanessa Nygaard for overcoming and coping with the hardship over the past year and a half. With our performance this year, we have fallen short of the lofty expectations set by our organization and supporters for our team.

“We are confident that Nikki Blue, filling in as head coach for the remainder of the 2023 season, will do an excellent job.”