The Phoenix Mercury announced on Sunday that they have parted ways with head coach Vanessa Nygaard. They will now turn to Nikki Blue as their interim head coach for the remainder of the season.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Breaking: The Phoenix Mercury have announced that they've parted ways with head coach Vanessa Nygaard.
Nikki Blue has been named interim head coach for the remainder of the 2023 season. pic.twitter.com/lu7MXX6mRr
— ESPN (@espn) June 25, 2023
This decision comes after the Mercury’s 2-10 start to the 2023 season. They are on pace to end with their worst record in franchise history.
The Mercury initially hired Nygaard back in January 2022; it was the franchise’s 10th head coach. Nygaard will leave with an overall record of 17-31.
General Manager Jim Pitman spoke about the decision to release Nygaard after just a season and a half with the Mercury.
“We thank Vanessa Nygaard for the way she endured and managed the adversity of the last year-plus. Our organization and our fans have high expectations for this team, and we have not reached those with our performance this year.”
Mercury star Brittney Griner also spoke on the team’s struggles this season after their loss to the Seattle Storm.
“I don’t know. I guess tear it down and rebuild it back up. I really don’t get it. It’s not going the way we want it to go. It’s not the Phoenix Mercury basketball we all know.”
Nikkie Blue, on the other hand, has plenty of experience coaching in Arizona. Prior to taking the assistant head coaching job with the Mercury in 2022, Blue coached at Arizona State University and Grand Canyon University for a combined five seasons.
Stay tuned for further updates.
