Boston Celtics assistant Kara Lawson to become Duke Women’s Basketball head coach (report)

https://www.masslive.com/celtics/2020/07/boston-celtics-assistant-kara-lawson-to-become-duke-womens-basketball-head-coach-report.html



Boston Celtics assistant Kara Lawson to become Duke Women’s Basketball head coach (report)



Updated 4:43 PM; Today 4:38 PM



Kara Lawson
Boston Celtics assistant coach Kara Lawson at the team's training facility in Boston, Monday, July 1, 2019. Lawson played in the WNBA from 2003-15 and also helped the U.S. win the gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)AP



By John Karalis | JKaralis@masslive.com




Boston Celtics assistant coach Kara Lawson, the first woman to hold a coaching position with the team, is on the verge of leaving to become the head coach of the Duke Women’s Basketball team, according to the Boston Globe’s Gary Washburn.


Lawson is in her first year as an assistant with Boston, and impressed everyone quickly.


“She’s been great,” Brad Stevens said of Lawson earlier in the season. “We’ve got a really good staff. They are great in the individual instruction, excellent in film, excellent in scouting, and Kara has been terrific in all those areas. She works with a couple of our guys really closely but then she also scouts specifically on the other teams’ defenses and does a great job of game-planning and presenting.”

Lawson was an accomplished point guard during her 12 year WNBA and overseas career. She was a WNBA All-Star and champion, as well as an Olympic Gold Medalist. After serving as a studio analyst for ESPN and the Washington Wizards, Lawson decided she wanted to get into coaching. She chose the Celtics after Stevens reached out to her and convinced her the situation would be right for her.

“For me this was a good fit,” she said earlier this season. “I wanted to go somewhere where I’d be challenged, I wanted to go somewhere where I’d be allowed to coach, and I wanted to go to an organization that was going to be playing in big games to be able to get a sense of that last frontier of coaching which is being able to do it in pressure situations in the regular season and the playoffs.”

According to the News & Observer, Celtics co-owner Steve Pagliuca, a member of the Duke Board of Trustees, supports Lawson’s hiring.


Lawson is currently with the team in Orlando as the team prepares for the NBA season to resume. It’s unclear if her taking the Duke job would mean an immediate departure from the Celtics, or if she’d remain with the team as they make their run through the playoffs. If she stays with the team, she could be in Orlando until mid-October if the Celtics were able to make a run to the NBA Finals.



bob


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Gary Washburn @GwashburnGlobe
about 3 hours ago
Kara Lawson has accepted the women's basketball coaching position at Duke University, according to an NBA source. #Celtics

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bob


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Well, that’s one way to escape the “bubble”!
Congrats Kara.

Well Deserved.

Congrats to Duke's second Coach K.

Not to take anything away from Kara Lawson but it probably didn't hurt her chances that Steve Pagliuca is on the Duke Board of Trustees.


bob


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Great news for her. In the time she was with the Celtics, she had built a good relationship with a lot of the guys on the team and worked individually with a few of them on shooting technique and accuracy.
A great move for a hard working lady.

Good luck Kara, well deserved.