The WNBA will see at least two new coaches joining teams ahead of the 2027 season, after the Los Angeles Sparks dismissed Lynne Roberts and the New York Liberty fired Chris DeMarco. Both teams had their reasons for the decisions, and both decisions were largely met with enthusiasm from fans — and a lack of surprise from many WNBA observers.
Sue Bird addressed the rotating coaching changes on an episode of her "Bird's Eye View" podcast last week and made a salient point: WNBA teams aren't messing around. As Bird pointed out, teams want to put everything they can into finding the right fit for their teams so they can win. The Liberty and the Sparks both struggled throughout the 2026 season.
All the changes in the WNBA in the last season or two have raised the stakes across the board. That's true for the players in the league, who are making more money and now have higher expectations placed on them as a result. It's true for head coaches, who are expected to get the kind of winning results and performances that fans and ownership groups expect. And it's even true for the front office and owners, who are finding themselves investing more time and more resources into WNBA teams than ever before.
The WNBA is absolutely on the brink of what will likely be yet another big leap after a series of big leaps. Commissioner Cathy Engelbert will exit the role at the end of the year, and a new WNBA Commissioner will be expected to hit the ground running, while simultaneously adjusting to the whiplash pace at which the league has been advancing this season. While the league has seen tremendous growth over the last two seasons and just aired the most-watched WNBA Finals game of all time, there's still more growing to do.
So it's no real surprise that teams have a win-now and win-big mentality, and it's no real surprise that there's not as much patience or grace extended to coaches who have yet to produce results. (That's not entirely true across the board; the Chicago Sky have already confirmed Tyler Marsh, who has yet to actually have a true opportunity to coach the way many believe he can, will be back in 2027.) And, as was seen with DeMarco's dismissal, sometimes getting results still may not provide job security in a changing WNBA — after all, he ended the season with a 26-18 regular season record and won the Commissioner's Cup, neither of which are small feats.
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