The Phoenix Mercury parted ways with head coach Vanessa Nygaard on Sunday and named Nikki Blue as their interim head coach for the remainder of season.
The Mercury, who own a league-worst 2-10 record, dropped a 97-74 decision at the Seattle Storm on Saturday. The double-digit setback was the team’s fifth in a row.
“We have chosen to make a change at head coach,” Mercury general manager Jim Pitman said in a statement, per ESPN. “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.”
Star Brittney Griner was quite vocal with her displeasure after Saturday’s loss.
“What’s happening isn’t going to cut it,” Griner said. “It’s the first time I’ve ever had a record like this. It’s really frustrating.
“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.”
Nygaard, 48, posted a 17-31 record after being named the 10th head coach in franchise history in January 2022. She replaced Sandy Brondello, who took over the New York Liberty after her contract with Phoenix expired.
Nygaard is a former WNBA player and assistant coach who also enjoyed a successful tenure as a high school coach in California.
A native of Scottsdale, Ariz., Nygaard was a star player at Carlsbad High School in the San Diego area and won CIF Player of the Year honors in 1993. She earned a scholarship to Stanford and was part of three Final Four teams before playing five WNBA seasons (1999-2003) with four teams, averaging 4.6 points and 2.3 rebounds in 107 games (53 starts).
Blue, 39, is in her first season with the Mercury after spending 2019-22 as an assistant with Arizona State.
–Field Level Media
