Oct 22, 2026 · 1h 41m
Nancy Lieberman links basketball’s past to the WNBA’s next era
Nancy Lieberman: Angel Reese & Caitlin Clark Raised Every Salary in the WNBA
Lieberman’s story connects women’s basketball’s long fight for legitimacy with the star-driven growth and unresolved tensions shaping its future.
- 1Lieberman’s path from poverty and New York playgrounds to NBA coaching reflects basketball’s changing boundaries.
- 2She argues the Big3 can help former players transition into retirement while pressing the NBA for deeper partnership.
- 3Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese have accelerated WNBA visibility, salaries, sponsorships, and debate around women’s sports.
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Lieberman recounts entering Rucker Park as a young girl, earning the players’ respect, and bringing them home for food.
The brief
Nancy Lieberman joins Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson with a career spanning New York playgrounds, professional basketball, NBA coaching, and the Big3.
Her account of growing up poor and earning respect at Rucker Park sets up a broader argument about access, race, gender, and the relationships that sustained her.
Lieberman describes the Big3 as a bridge for former players while questioning why the NBA has not built a stronger relationship with a league offering new formats and Black ownership.
Her difficult Sacramento experience under George Karl leads into a discussion of Becky Hammon, Natalie Nakase, and why women remain underused in NBA coaching.
The conversation’s central present-day tension is the WNBA’s surge: Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese have expanded attention, money, and sponsorship while intensifying debate around women’s sports.
A health warning to Matt Barnes after discussing her brother’s prostate cancer recovery captures Lieberman’s mix of advocacy, candor, and personal responsibility.
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