February 20, 2025
Locked On Women’s Basketball: The truth about coaching the best women’s basketball players
By The Next
Andrew Wade: "They care for each other, and ultimately, they don't really care who gets credit, you know, they just want to go out there and win"
On today’s episode of Locked On Women’s Basketball, Unrivaled head coaches DJ Sackmann (Lunar Owls) and Andrew Wade (Laces) join host Gigi Speer to talk about coaching the top players in women’s basketball. The Lunar Owls, led by Napheesa Collier and Allisha Gray, are currently atop the standings with a record of 8-0, while the Laces, led by Kayla McBride and Betnijah Laney-Hamilton, sit in second at 5-3.
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First, Sackmann and Speer spoke about the experience of coaching the game’s top players, and how the Lunar Owls have balanced their locker room and play style.
“The coaching has been like a huge learning experience for me, just being around like the best players in the world, and we have a very collaborative environment,” Sackmann said. “… our locker room is very communicative and collaborative. We pick each other’s brains. So from that standpoint, for me, I’ve learned a ton from these women, and it’s been a great experience. They’re the best in the world. Each of them do special things, so just learning the nuances of how they’re thinking and how they’re operating in certain scenarios has been great for my personal development and the next step in my career. So that’s what I’m personally most excited about.”
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“And being around this environment with 36 of the best players in the world, it’s a great environment to be a part of, just being around high achievers on a daily basis, and how all of this, all these women, operate in their own space, through recovery, through on court stuff, through the weight room, and then they all have their own personal brands and personal businesses. It’s a lot and. A lot of them have children as well. So just watching how these high achievers are navigating the space has been it’s incredible to be a part of,” Sackmann continued.
Then, Speer spoke with Wade about the Laces’ energy and approach to the game.
“A very easygoing but competitive group,” Wade said “… It’s a lot … of vets … so they’ve all played a ton of basketball, they’re just super self sufficient, super selfless. They care for each other, and ultimately, they don’t really care who gets credit, you know, they just want to go out there and win. So as a coach, that’s really all you can ask for. It’s a group that’s just super competitive. And the other piece too is just like a high level of basketball … So we’re able to kind of figure out things on the fly and just kind of outsmart teams sometimes. So biggest thing right now is getting healthy, because we have so much confidence that we can win the championship in a few weeks.”
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Tune in to hear more from both Sackmann and Wade about coaching the top two teams in Unrivaled. Make sure to subscribe to the Locked On Women’s Basketball podcast to keep learning about the WNBA, women’s college basketball, basketball history and much more!
