SAN FRANCISCO — The WNBA’s New York Liberty tabbed one of the Warriors’ top assistant coaches to be their next head coach.
Longtime Golden State assistant Chris DeMarco agreed to a midseason deal to become their head coach, a league source confirmed to the Bay Area News Group on Friday afternoon.
The New York Post’s Madeline Kenney first reported he was a leading candidate for the position on Tuesday, and ESPN’s Shams Charania reported the deal had been finalized on Friday morning.
DeMarco, 40, who is also the head coach of the Bahamas men’s national team that stars current Warrior Buddy Hield, has been an assistant coach for all four of the Warriors’ recent titles.
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said he could not comment directly on DeMarco’s move until the Liberty made it official.
“We have always stood by our coaches, management and anybody who has an amazing opportunity, we never get in their way,” Kerr said. “We’ll figure out how to cover it up, after the fact.”
Following a Hall of Fame college playing career at Dominican University in San Rafael, he joined the organization as a video intern in 2012, becoming an advance scout in 2014 and advancing to becoming one of Kerr’s lead assistants this season.
“Yesssirrr CD,” Draymond Green wrote in a post on Instagram. “(New York) got a great one!”
He has handled skill development and has been lauded for his work as a defensive coach. He will now join a Liberty team with championship aspirations following a disappointing first-round exit this September.
The Liberty fired coach Sandy Brondello despite her leading the franchise to the 2024 title.
DeMarco will inherit a roster that expects to return perennial MVP candidates in Breanna Stewart, Jonquel Jones and Walnut Creek native Sabrina Ionescu.
He is the latest in a long line of former Warriors assistants to become head coaches. Mike Brown, Luke Walton, Willie Green, Kenny Atkinson and Alvin Gentry are among those who have spent time under Kerr and become head coaches.
The Warriors are set to play the Trail Blazers on Friday night at Chase Center.
Kuminga injury update
Jonathan Kuminga will miss his fifth game in a row with knee tendonitis. Kerr said that Kuminga is slated to practice on Sunday as he ramps up toward a return. Kuminga was a regular starter to begin the season, but was moved to the bench for the team’s first game in San Antonio, and he ruled out of that game at halftime.
