Celtics Reportedly Hire Kara Lawson As An Assistant Coach
BOSTON (CBS) -- The Boston Celtics are adding an Olympic gold medalist and WNBA champ to their coaching staff. Boston has reportedly hired Kara Lawson to join Brad Stevens' staff, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.
The 38-year-old has quite the basketball resume, beginning with her time as a star player at Tennessee under coaching great Pat Summitt. She went on to enjoy a 13-year career in the WNBA, playing for the Sacramento Monarchs, Connecticut Sun and Washington Mystics. Lawson helped Sacramento win a title in 2005.
Lawson also won a gold at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, scoring a team-high 15 points against Australia in the gold medal game.
She retired in 2015 to focus on her broadcasting, but her experience on the desk started before her days in the WNBA ended. She started as a studio analyst for the Sacramento Kings and then filled several different roles for ESPN's WNBA broadcasts. In 2007, she became the first woman to work as a national broadcast analyst for an NBA game when she was on the call for a Hornets-Wizards game. She became the primary TV analyst for the Washington Wizards in 2017.
Boston had a vacancy on their bench after Micah Shrewsberry took an assistant coaching job at Purdue. Lawson joins San Antonio's Becky Hammon, Dallas' Jenny Boucek and Cleveland's Lindsey Gottlieb in a growing group of women coaches on NBA teams.
