Phoenix Mercury’s Kristi Toliver: WNBA head coach in waiting

By Jeff Metcalfe

Nate Tibbetts is likely correct in saying that Kristi Toliver’s stint with the Phoenix Mercury won’t be for long.

With the WNBA expanding to 14 teams by 2026 and a projected 16 by 2028, not to mention standard coaching turnover among the 12 current franchises, Toliver is well-positioned to move up quickly from her job as Mercury associate head coach.

“I don’t know how long we’ll have Kristi here because she’s so good,” says Tibbetts, a first-year WNBA head coach. “My hope is next year she’s a head coach in our league. I’m super thankful she is here. I hope she’s here as long as I’m here.”

“She makes me better each and every day. I lean to her a lot. She probably gets tired of me asking questions about this league.”

Not that Toliver has all the answers, but her knowledge base is substantial. She played 14 seasons through 2023 in the WNBA, winning two titles and making three All-Star teams. As a college freshman, she played an instrumental role in Maryland winning the 2006 NCAA championship.

Internationally, Toliver played on Russian and EuroLeague championship teams including with Mercury stars Diana Taurasi and Brittney Griner.

“The one thing I always admired about Kristi was how level-headed she was throughout any circumstance,” says Taurasi, in her 20th WNBA season. “It’s nice to have someone you’ve been in the trenches with and you know how she prepares.”

Center Griner, beneficiary of Toliver’s point-guard play, says, “I vividly remember her grabbing me and coaching me up. I always could turn to her and she would make sure I was in the right place. But beyond that make sure I understand why I should be in that place, not just go and stand in the corner and go set the screen and roll.”

Raised to be a coach

The why behind the what is something Toliver learned early from her father George, an NBA referee from 1988-2004 then in the NBA referee operations department.

When 5-year-old Kristi told her dad that point guard B.J. Armstrong needed to “get this team (NBA champion Chicago Bulls) under control,” George told the Baltimore Sun that he “knew then that she had something special, that she saw the game differently than most people.”

It’s no surprise then that Toliver’s transition to coaching began well before her playing days ended.

She was the first active WNBA player to double as an NBA assistant coach, working with the Washington Wizards under Scott Brooks from 2018-20. Then she joined the Dallas Mavericks staff under Jason Kidd for two seasons including 2021-22 when the Mavs eliminated the Phoenix Suns en route to the Western Conference Finals.

“Scotty and Jason were the best for me because they threw me into the fire,” Toliver says. “The exposure of how they operate on a day-to-day basis, how they manage things at home and away, seeing both sides of the ball, the player development aspect. I got exposed to a lot.”

“I’m thankful that they chose me. Just to be around those high-level coaches and players working with Jason Kidd and Luka Dončić every day, (God) Shammgod, Sean Sweeney. There’s so many names people don’t even know, but they were wizards as coaches and players. For me to be that sponge and absorb and soak everything in then working with our coaches, learning how to teach, how to manage practice, how to manage daily drills. As a player we’ve gone through it, but as far as teaching and explaining and not over-complicating things, it’s kind of all come together.”

Balancing Mercury staff

Tibbetts came to the Mercury from the NBA, where he was an assistant coach for 12 years for three different teams. Hiring a male with no women’s coaching experience to a reported WNBA highest salary created an immediate outcry from some even given the Mercury’s promise to balance its staff.

Enter Toliver, hired six weeks after Tibbetts, to almost universal acclaim, providing some breathing room for the new head coach to get established.

They did not know each other but had NBA connections to facilitate an introduction.

“From the first conversation we had on the phone, we didn’t skip a beat,” Toliver says. “A part of why I’m here is bridging that gap of having the NBA experience of where he was coming from but also playing in the W for 15 years and knowing what they’re used to, knowing the schemes, knowing the language, knowing the day to day of how we work. We fit very well together.”

“I know he got a lot of backlash and that’s not his fault. That’s from the outside looking in. From day 1 the way he’s communicated, the way he works, the sweat equity, he’s on the court with the players, he’s been money. The players love him, I love working with him.”

Tibbetts, who turned 47 on Wednesday ahead of the Mercury’s home opener Saturday, intends to help Toliver, 37, in her career progression even it means he’ll soon be in search of a replacement.

“She’s always, I’m learning, had a coaching mentality and coaching mind,” Tibbetts says. “There’s going to be times where I put her in (charge of) the huddle because I want to give her this opportunity to lead this team. I want her to continue to grow. That’s how much I believe in her.”

Natasha Cloud’s Mr. Miyagi

Natasha Cloud draws on the Karate Kid to explain her connection with Toliver.

Four of Cloud’s eight seasons in Washington overlapped with Toliver including 2019 when the Mystics were WNBA champions. Both opted out of the COVID-shortened bubble season in 2020 although had she played Toliver would have been with Los Angeles that year.

“Just learning from her, learning what works, how to be a better leader more than anything has been why she’s been my Mr. Miyagi,” say Toliver, referring to the fictional karate master.

“People see the fire in me and that is very natural to me. Water is not natural to me. Kristi has been helping me with when my fire is supposed to be used and when I need to lean into that water a little bit more. That has been the biggest jump for me in my leadership over the last few years of my career.”

When Toliver became a free agent after 2023, she told Toliver, whose playing career ended last September with a torn ACL, that she would “follow her anywhere.” True to those words, she wasted no time signing with the Mercury at the start of WNBA free agency in February.

Cloud is coming off a career-high scoring season (12.7 ppg) and has been top five in WNBA assists for four consecutive years (No. 1 in 2022). Toliver defers any credit for that ascension even though Cloud symbolically places a crown on her head during pre-game handshakes “because that’s always going to be my point guard.”

“Tash is using her voice, she’s setting the tone defensively, offensively she’s doing everything we ask as far as pushing the ball, being a playmaker,” Toliver says. “We have a lot of threats for her to find. We’re not going to over-complicate it. We want her to be her.”

“We obviously have a great relationship. She’s building that relationship through the whole organization. From the leadership standpoint, she’s right there. I know she’s excited for this next step and this next journey of hers.”

The 32-year-old Cloud is under contract through 2025 so perhaps her Miyagi can be convinced to stay at least that long. Early results suggest the longer Toliver is teamed with Tibbetts, the better for the Mercury.

“When Kristi came to the Mystics, it was the first time a point guard older than me ever led me,” Cloud says. “Ever saw me as something they could pour into. It’s like I can get into you (a teammate), but I also need to care for you. Kristi has been huge for me finding that balance.”