Kristi Toliver joins Mavericks coaching staff, according to report

On Thursday, Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Los Angeles Sparks guard Kristi Toliver was named an assistant coach for the Dallas Mavericks where she will be on Jason Kidd’s staff.

This is Toliver’s second stint as an NBA assistant coach. She was an assistant coach on Scott Brooks’ staff for the Washington Wizards from 2018-20. It is also notable that when Toliver was named to the Wizards’ staff in 2018, she was the first active WNBA player to also hold a job with an NBA team since she was playing with the Washington Mystics at the time.

During Toliver’s time with the Wizards, she worked primarily as a player development coach. She was also known for being caught up in some unintended consequences of the previous WNBA CBA because she was paid just $10,000 from the Mystics’ discretionary fund in the 2018-19 season to be a Wizards assistant coach. The reasoning behind her pay was in part to prevent WNBA teams like the Mystics from circumventing the salary cap by exploiting opportunities from sibling franchises like the Wizards.

In the 2019-20 season, the Wizards were able to pay Toliver a full salary after the WNBA made a new CBA that addressed players who are in her type of situation. Soon after, Toliver left the Mystics for the Sparks, where she still remains. This season, she is averaging 12.2 points and 3.5 assists per game for LA.

Congratulations on your latest move Coach!