“I know I’m going to need to rely on our team to learn how this league works. That’s why I’m here,” said Nate Tibbetts during his introduction as the Phoenix Mercury head coach back in 2023. After 12 years as an assistant coach in the NBA, joining the Women’s National Basketball League was certainly a change of environment. 2 years later, not only has he managed to adjust, but Tibbetts has managed to take his team all the way to the WNBA Finals. Seeing how time makes the situation around you better, the head coach couldn’t help but smile.
During a presser after the Game 4 win against the Minnesota Lynx, Nate Tibbetts was asked about a particular moment that occurred during the game. Around the last 30 seconds, the head coach was looking up and smiling. At first, Tibbetts joked that “You weren’t supposed to see that.” After that, however, he revealed that he was looking up at his family. Tibbetts recalled how he and they took a chance coming to the WNBA, since he “had been living the NBA dream, and it was awesome.” He added, “Uh, had kind of gotten overlooked at some NBA jobs over the years.”
Since his father found success as a longtime high school girls and women’s coach, Tibbetts was inspired to follow the same path. With the Phoenix Mercury, he found a home away from home.
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“Yeah, I mean, everything Matt has told me he was going to do, and Josh, when I took this job, they’ve done it. Uh, you know, we treat our players at the highest level that we possibly can,” said Tibbetts. “Um, I was lucky enough to be with around four different NBA, uh, teams, and we treat our players as well as any team that I’ve been around and, um, you know, that just shows there’s a real commitment to what we’re trying to do. It’s not talk.”
Nate Tibbetts began delivering results right from his first season after crossing over to the WNBA. His team made the playoffs in 2024, but got eliminated by, ironically, the Minnesota Lynx in the first round. This season, he was able to utilize a newly assembled team headlined by players like Alyssa Thomas, Satou Sabally, and Kahleah Copper. By the time August arrived, Tibbetts made history by winning the 42nd game of his career, thereby allowing him to pass Paul Westhead’s record.
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There were issues, as the head coach had to recover after nearly all of the Mercury roster turned over last winter. Plus, just like every other team’s officials out there, he had to deal with officiating concerns. However, today, Tibbetts has shut down all of the reported critics who opposed his appointment by making the Phoenix Mercury squad just 4 more wins away from securing their 4th championship title.
To lead his players through the Finals, the HC will need to have the utmost confidence in them. Fortunately, that was never an issue. After all, Tibbets believed in his players when the rest of the world didn’t.
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Nate Tibbetts highlighted Satou Sabally’s opinion about Mercury being labeled as underdogs
As mentioned earlier, Nate Tibbetts’ hiring raised concerns about the Phoenix Mercury’s future. Diana Taurasi’s retirement and Brittney Griner’s exit certainly did not help things. Concerns were openly shared going into the 2025 season. The ESPN crew, consisting of Alexa Philippou, Kendra Andrews, and Michael Voepel, once gave their thoughts on this subject.
Philippou praised the trio of Alyssa Thomas, Satou Sabally, and Kahleah Copper, but questioned the team’s depth. Kendra Andrews added that “It’s easier said than done to start over, no matter how talented the free agents you landed are.” These doubts reached the Phoenix Mercury roster, and it only fueled their drive.
After Game 3, Nate Tibbetts was asked how the team dealt with physicality to snag away an easy win. He responded by saying, “This is a team that believes in each other. Been overlooked a little bit all year”. Yikes. Tibbetts further added that “But the one thing that we are is, we are tough and we’ll fight and compete, and we did that in the fourth and made it hard for them on every possession, and that’s what good defensive teams do.”
The coach wasn’t wrong in feeling this sentiment. After Game 3, Satou Sabally also touched base on the same by stating, “We started out the season, I think, ESPN, all of them, they ranked us really low. And I feel, to me, it’s a disrespect towards those two (points at Thomas and Copper). They’re gold medalists, they’re All-Stars, and to put that type of disrespect towards people who have literally been in the league for so long, has won a championship, that just fueled us. And we’re the underdogs. We have something to prove to ourselves more than others.”
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Well, no one is underestimating the Phoenix Mercury now. Which is dangerous, since their next rivals could very well be the A’ja Wilson-led 2x WNBA champions, the Las Vegas Aces. A test that will prove whether the Mercury front office was correct in placing its faith in the 48-year-old. Whether the faith the Mercury squad has in each other is enough to give them the edge is something that remains to be seen.