If he is not fired, I will leave the Phoenix Mercury head coach, as he has a misunderstanding with his player.
The Phoenix Mercury said on Sunday that they had “parted ways” with head coach Vanessa Nygaard.
For the balance of the 2023 season, Mercury lead assistant coach Nikki Blue will serve as interim head coach.
A day earlier, the Mercury lost 97-74 to the Storm in Seattle, a game in which Brittney Griner and Diana Taurasi returned from three-game injury absences. Situated last in the Western Conference, the Mercury (2-10) have the worst record in the WNBA.
More: Seattle Storm overwhelm Phoenix Mercury; Turner and Taurasi’s return is insufficient
“We have made a change at head coach,” Mercury General Manager Jim Pitman stated in a statement issued early on Sunday. We appreciate the way Vanessa Nygaard handled and overcame the hardships of the past more than a year. With our performance this season, we have not lived up to the high expectations that our fans and organization have for our squad. We are confident in the work Nikki Blue will accomplish as head coach in temporary capacity for the balance of the 2023 campaign.
Owner of Michigan-based United Wholesale Mortgage, billionaire Mat Ishbia, paid $4 billion buy the Mercury club and the Phoenix Suns in February. A few days following their elimination from the NBA playoffs by the eventual champion Denver Nuggets, the Suns fired coach Monty Williams. In his place was recruited Frank Vogel.
Sandy Brondello was replaced in January 2022 by former Las Vegas Aces assistant coach Nygaard. Her two seasons saw her amass a 17-31 record; the first was played without Griner, who was being held by Russian authorities at the time.
The Mercury lead the league with 17.6 turnovers per game and finish last with 29.3 rebounds per game.
Blue has coached at the WNBA and collegiate levels for a total of 15 years, having joined the Mercury coaching staff in March of 2022. She worked under head coach Charlie Turner Thorne at Arizona State for three seasons as an assistant coach before joining the Mercury as the lead assistant coach (2019–2022). She has also coached for two seasons at Grand Canyon University (2017–19), three seasons as the head assistant at CSU Bakersfield (2014–17), and six seasons as an assistant coach at UNLV (2008–14).
