Tanisha Wright is all about the finite details.
When you enter her Atlanta Dream practice as a first-year head coach, she expects performances of a certain caliber for the organization. The atmosphere she sets for the franchise is critical for such a young group. Wright finished her playing career in 2019 and is only 38, while co-owner Renee Montgomery officially retired in 2021 and is only 35. After the April 27 practice, Wright stopped to speak to rolling out about her first season in charge and the impact she wants her hiring to have on the WNBA.
How was practice today?
I thought the girls did well. They came out focused and energized with a lot of energy. That’s all we can really ask for, attention to detail, so I was happy with it.
The word “energy” has come up a lot from you and the team when describing the group. Do you think being energetic is an advantage younger coaches have?
When you’re coaching in general, you have to have some type of form of energy, right? I think your team can feed off that. So every day, you want to be an example for them. So every day I come in myself, along with the other coaches and our staff, and we’re all on the same page in terms of high energy so that the players can feed off that and be an example for them.
How important is character building when you’re building a team?
I think it’s super important. It’s something we value very highly here. It’s something we talk about a lot – accountability. As we move forward, those are the types of players we want in our organization with our franchise.
Why do you think it’s important to have Black women coaches in the WNBA?
Our league is made up of a majority of Black women. So for us to be in these positions of leadership anywhere, not just here, but anywhere, shows that there are opportunities out there and opportunities available. The representation of having somebody that looks like you and has been through some of the same things that you’ve been through, I think that that’s important in general. That should be praised. It should [be noted] that we have three Black women head coaches in our league [out of 12 teams], and hopefully that grows to more.
You played during the same era Renee Montgomery did. How weird is it for you to see both of you now in the front office or leadership roles?
It’s not weird at all.
Well, I guess it’s the circle of life.
She’s another Black woman in a position of leadership. And so for us, we’re looking for opportunities to have Black women in positions of leadership. So it’s not weird, it should be normal.
