Long-time Liberty GM Jonathan Kolb stayed true to his words. “We want to take as long as it takes to find the right person,” Kolb had said. “Obviously, we’d love for that to be on the sooner end of things, but we’re not going to rush anything. We need to nail this.” After every franchise with a vacancy had finished hiring, Kolb chose Golden State Warriors assistant Chris DeMarco to carry the torch, according to Shams Charania. Liberty star Sabrina Ionescu played a part in the hiring process, which involved connecting with fellow sharpshooter Steph Curry.

Liberty had several strong candidates on their shortlist, including former Brooklyn Nets assistant Will Weaver, Phoenix Mercury associate head coach Kristi Toliver (a former WNBA champion), and Toronto Raptors assistant Jama Mahlalela. DeMarco was a fairly recent development. It seems Ionescu and Steph Curry paved the way for DeMarco, who joined the Warriors in 2012 as an intern in the video room, to move on to a head coaching job.

“It’s not news that blindsided the Warriors that they were in some ways part of the hiring process. I know Sabrina Ionescu reached out to Steph Curry during you know this hiring process to get his thoughts on Chris DeMarco,” Anthony Slater said on NBA Today.

(This is a developing story…)