Nate Tibbetts, a first-year head coach for the Phoenix Mercury, accumulated a vast amount of experience as an assistant in the NBA. Tibbetts served as an assistant and head coach in what was then known as the “D-League” from 2001 to 2011, before getting the call-up to the NBA itself.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Tibbetts was hired as an assistant by the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2011, before spending eight years with Portland from 2013 to 2021 and two years in Orlando from 2021 to 2023. However, Tibbetts’ introduction to being an assistant coach in the NBA draws strikingly similar comparisons to his first season with the Mercury.
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“I was telling DT [Diana Taurasi] today, it kind of reminded me of 2011 when I first came into the league, the year of the lockout,” Tibbetts said. “When we played 66 games and it felt like four months.”
The 2011 NBA lockout was a labor dispute between the NBA players and owners that led to the postponement and shortening of the regular season. The lockout began on July 1, 2011, and lasted 161 days, primarily due to disagreements over the division over the division of basketball-related income and the structure of the salary cap.
As a result, the league was forced to cancel the first several weeks of the season, compressing the schedule into a condensed format once an agreement was reached. The NBA resumed on December 25, 2011, leading to a shortened 66-game season, compared to the typical 82 games. The condensed schedule meant teams played more frequently, often with little rest, creating a grueling pace that tested players’ endurance and resilience.
The 2024 WNBA season brings a similar dilemma for different reasons. Due to the Paris Olympics which will range from mid-July to mid-August, the WNBA has been forced to condense the schedule. Teams are now traveling way more and receiving much less rest, causing the league to condense the schedule into two halves.
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“I haven’t even played a minute and I’m tired,” said Tibbetts. “Typically when you go on a road trip like that, you stay out east. We were there for three [games], came home for one which felt like a road game, and then go into Seattle. That was a tough stretch for us.”
For reference, the Phoenix Mercury played five games ranging from May 28 to June 4. The Mercury completed a three-game road trip on the east coast, visiting Connecticut, New York and Minnesota in the span of four days. They then returned home to host the Sparks, where they’d then travel to Seattle to take on the Storm two days later.
With the schedule being this condensed, Tibbetts draws a logical comparison back to his first-year as an assistant coach.
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Justin LaCertosa covers Phoenix Sports News for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on his X account, @LaCertosaSports
