Duke Introduces Lawson as Head Women's Basketball Coach

DURHAM, N.C.— On Monday, Duke Vice President and Director of Athletics Kevin White and Senior Deputy Director of Athletics/Administration, Legal Affairs, Chief of Staff Nina King officially introduced Kara Lawson as the fifth Duke women's basketball head coach via a Zoom press conference.

Over 70 media and staff joined the Zoom press conference where Dr. White, King and Lawson took questions.

To watch the press conference, click on the link below.

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Quotes from Press Conference

Duke head coach Kara Lawson:

Opening Statement …
"What an incredible moment that is still pretty surreal for me. I want to thank President [Vincent] Price, Coach [Mike] Krzyzewski and Coach [David] Cutcliffe for their impact on me … not just through the process but the relationships I've had with both Coach K and Coach Cutcliffe over the years. I couldn't be walking into any situation better as a first-time head coach with those two men as mentors and I'm really looking forward to learning from them and enjoying being part of the Duke Athletics department. This is a dream come true for me. I've wanted to be a coach since I was a kid. I took a circuitous route, but I'm here now. I'm so excited about the opportunity to shape young women, grow their games and their personalities through their collegiate career. When I look at Duke University, I see how special of a place it is. This game has always been about players. Certainly, if you ask any player, they will tell you that but even as a coach, it is about the players. I've tried to spend my first couple of days reaching out to our players, past players and hopefully future players. We're really excited and I can't wait."

On the inherent pressures of Duke being the first coaching job …
"I knew I wanted to coach, but a lot of this is timing and being in the right situation to learn and grow. I knew it would happen later because I was playing for 13 years in the WNBA and didn't want to coach at that time. I wanted to put everything I had into playing and that's what I did. I didn't become focused on coaching until I finished my playing career. The summer of 2016 was my first summer I didn't play in the WNBA and began giving some real thought to what I wanted to do post playing career. I started trying things and that's how I got involved in USA Basketball and fell in love with it. I wanted to continue to be around the game and find places I could coach."

On being among the latest wave of female coaches of color being hired and what the first order of business is …
"I am excited for all the women and their opportunities. I'm friends with all of them and we know each other from being part of the basketball family. I spoke with Dawn Staley and Tina Thompson - those are people I have known for a long time from either playing with or against. Dawn coached me in USA Basketball. I've known Nikki McCray since I was in high school so I'm really happy for their success and opportunities. I want them to succeed at the highest level. I think the world of all of them and know they will all have great careers. My priority right now is getting to know our players and recruits. That's what I've been spending most of my time doing."

On why this job and this moment is right …
"Going through the process was great because I had the opportunity to meet with so many people that have an impact on the university in different ways. [Dr.] Kevin White or Nina [King], Coach K … I met with 13-14 people associated with the university in some way. They were all via Zoom since I am down here in Orlando and it was during a period I wasn't allowed out of my room in quarantine. It made the day go by faster. It was a great process getting to hear their love for the university and getting a chance to share my thoughts on their institution and program."

On potentially going to Duke as an undergrad and what would Coach Summitt's advice be on taking a head coaching job …
"My mom wanted me to go to Duke, my dad wanted me to go to Stanford and I picked Tennessee. What would Coach [Pat] Summitt say to me? Oh man … I think she would be really excited. She obviously knew it was a goal of mine to become a coach. That was why I went to play for her because I wanted to learn from the best. That was what led me to Knoxville. I could not have had a better experience playing for her, learning from her and I think she would be pretty excited. I don't know if she would be wearing blue … she would probably be on this call, and she would be so happy. Any time you watch one of your players as a coach achieve a dream of theirs, it is something really fulfilling. I think she would be smiling."

On the career path after taking the job with the Boston Celtics …
"I can't say I had it planned out. Most of the time I plan things out, they do not end up happening how you think. Brad [Stevens] referenced this yesterday. Brad, his wife and I went for a walk a few months ago and had a honest conversation about the future and what some of my goals were. I won't share them all, but I will say one of the places I would have loved to have an opportunity to coach for was Duke. I didn't share that with very many people … I knew if it ever came open, I would put my best foot forward and try to secure the position. That's how highly I thought of the institution and the job. I certainly had no idea it would happen a year after I went to Boston, but when the right opportunity comes along, you must take it. That's the same process I used to join the Celtics a year ago. When you find a place where your values align and they have a high standard … if that fits, it's probably the right place for you. It's what I felt with the Celtics and what I felt about Duke when I first talked with Nina King and Dr. Kevin White. I didn't intend to have a 12 month stay with the NBA. I thought I would be there for a while."

On how she will take NBA experience and apply to Duke …
"The diversity of my experiences are my strength. This is a day and age that we are talking a lot about diversity. We are having a lot of needed conversations about diversity. If you really believe in it you know that it creates great value in your organization. I think the same about experiences. Having been around the game in a number of capacities is a strength that I bring to this position. Understanding the game as a player from the college perspective, from the pro perspective, from the women's perspective, from the men's perspective, from a coaching perspective, from a media perspective – there are so many things that I've experienced. I will bring all of that to the position and that's what made me a unique candidate for the position. There is a strength in diversity of experiences and that is something that I have tried to do. I strived to do it even throughout my player career, I tried to find areas to improve and find areas I was uncomfortable in to try and master them. Just challenging yourself, not just daily, but in certain scenarios, is just necessary because that is where you get the fastest growth of a person. This is going to be challenging and I am excited for it."

On what a Kara Lawson Duke team look like …
"I'll tell you a story. I was coaching a 3-on-3 team in 2018. We went down to Buenos Aires, Argentina for the Youth Olympic Games. We had some really good players on that team, young players, high school players, that were really talented. We ran certain offenses, obviously you look at the skills of your players and see how can you adjust to their skills and strengths. We won the gold medal. Great team, very dominant team. The next year, we had a new group of players. I brought them over to Mongolia to play in the World Cup. During the first couple days of practice I started to implement a lot of the actions that were very successful for us the previous year, but with different players. It was not a fit. It did not work. I remember going home after the second night of practice and ripping up the play book saying this is not going to work. We had to find something that worked for them and aligned with their skill sets. We changed. I think [Dr.] Kevin [White] brought up a good word … adaptability. I'm not going to sit here and say we are going to play this way or that way. I think the ability to be adaptable and have players that are adaptable is vital. I am not going to make any statements of what we are going to do and who we are going to be but I am going to figure out what works for us and strive to master that. If you keep it simple in terms of your goals that gives you a chance to really achieve them."

On the bonds she made with the Celtics players and how hard it will be to leave …
"It is the relationships that makes basketball special. I have built a lot of deep relationships with these guys. Any coach that is leaving a place and going to another place knows that feeling. It is hard to leave. Certainly, the relationships all over the roster and coaching staff, it is difficult. You are with your players every day. We are around each other all the time. They are special … our team is special. I had a chance to talk to them before practice yesterday. Jayson Tatum is obviously very excited. He started off our practice around the circle and JT gave a great introduction and how excited he was for me to be at Duke now. Jaylen Brown came up to me and said he never thought he would cheer for Duke and now he will. Just the support of those guys and the texts. Every day they come up to me, even if they have already congratulated me, they come up to me again every day since it has happened. They are so excited. Enes Kanter wants a court-side seat … Kevin White, we are going to have to work on that for the games. The guys are thrilled for the opportunity and so happy for me, and so are the coaches. I confided in Brad [Stevens] a lot during this process. He is somebody with a tremendous amount of experience and fielded a lot of offers while he was at Butler in terms of opportunities, whether it was other colleges or the NBA. Brad and his wife, Tracy, were vital for me during this process, just to be able to bounce ideas off them as they have been through it. I love these guys, I told them that yesterday. They can always come down to Durham and stay with me and come to the games wherever they are. We will stay in touch but what you miss is that every day contact you are used to getting."

On how the NBA and the Boston Celtics made her comfortable being a woman in the league …
"It was fantastic. I was with Allison Feaster a lot, even though she was not a coach on the court with us. She is a part of the front office and what a special person she is. We have a unique bond going through our first year together, her in the front office and me in the coaching staff. It didn't feel very lonely because I always had somebody there. They made me feel so welcome. People would ask me a lot throughout the year what it was like when you went in the locker room or around the guys and it just felt normal. I never felt like I stuck out. I always felt a part of the staff and part of the team and I am going to miss seeing everyone every day."

On her relationship with Marcus Smart …
"I love Marcus. In fact, Marcus and I met in Orlando. He was playing at Oklahoma State and I was working an ESPN game and we were at the gym where we first met today. We realized it in the middle of practice and that was cool. I love Marcus Smart. He is such a unique player. He is a player with texture. It takes a special person to really love how smart he plays. He is a fantastic leader. He is above everything, a beautiful competitor. That is my favorite thing about him, how he competes and the confidence he has. I loved working with him every single day. It kept me busy and creative and it makes the game fun. We are friends and we will continue to be friends."

On how her job as an ESPN analyst helped develop her knowledge of the game …
"I think that there is a lot to be gained from working on the broadcasting side because it allows you access to follow and interact with so many different coaches and programs, watch practices, watch shootarounds, watch games, the preseason, conference tournaments and postseason. There is a lot to learn and definitely took a lot of notes and learned a lot from the film. I think the main thing I learned is that there a lot of ways to be successful. Not every coach practices the same way … not every coach has the same offensive and defensive philosophies. They find what works for them and what works for their players and then they hold all the people in their program to a standard, at least the successful ones do. I think it was more of just fun to watch creatively how different coaches attack certain dilemmas, how different coaches have conversations with how they deal with certain issues whether it's on the court or off the court, with players, whether it's within their universities. College coaches have certainly been great with sharing information with me over my time in broadcasting, and so I think I have gained a lot of insights into how to run a program. It's still different than actually running a program. It is nice to be able to go around and talk to different people that have had success and see what they think the keys are."

On what to look for when selecting a staff …
"Experience. That's what I'm looking for. Just like playing, you want to put together a group that fits together, and that can extenuate each other's strengths … that can cover each other's blind spots, and when you do that as a team you have a really good chance to be successful if you build it the right way. I believe the same thing about a staff. That's what I'm looking for."

On her coaching philosophy and how to execute that under the potential circumstance of being virtual for the future …
"I think my philosophy would be relationships and building relationships. I think that's important. If you want to be able to push players to achieve, to push them to be great, I think you have to build a strong foundation with your relationship with them. So I would say philosophically, a relationship based program. I'm planning to be in Durham with the players in a few weeks … they start classes in a month. I've zoomed with them for now, but I'll see them, I'll see them a lot once the semester starts when they come back."

On what the outpouring of support has meant and how has recruiting been impacted knowing the uncertainty of the upcoming season …
"The outpouring has been phenomenal. You see how far and wide and how proud the Duke family is. I'm not going sit up here and name drop, but my phone has just completely blown up with well wishes from so many esteemed Duke alums. I couldn't be happier to be able to represent them and represent this program. It's been uplifting … it's been inspiring. I'm trying my best to get back with as many people as possible and get on the phone with as many people as possible. So that's been really neat to see. I've talked to a bunch of former players, and to hear the excitement in their voice is really fulfilling. As far as recruiting, there is a lot of uncertainty around everything right now, but the one thing you can do is still build relationships, like you would in recruiting via texting and phone calls. So that's what I'm trying to do, what I'm trying to work on. I'm probably a bad person to ask with how this is going to effect, because this is all I know right now, I don't have anything to compare it to. Hopefully, hopefully, with whatever the circumstances are for adapting, it will work out in Duke's favor."

On impressions of the Atlantic Coast Conference the current Duke team's potential …
"I didn't watch a ton of women's college basketball this year, you're correct. Not with an 82-game season. That's what I have to be working through here and when I get to Durham in a couple days, all the games are loaded in my computer among other things I've requested. I'll be knocking those out pretty quickly, so can't say I can give you a fair assessment right now. I want to make sure any assessment that I give is informed. I'm not just going to talk off the cuff, but we're going to get down and dirty with the film, try and see exactly where we are. That's one thing I love about film. As a player or as a coach, I used to watch the film right after the games when I played, get home and watch it, because it tells you where you are. You can think you're somewhere else, you can think you're somewhere above or below, but the film tells you where you are. I'm going to get started on that as soon as possible."

On having Coach [Mike] Krzyzewski as a sounding board …
"It's going to be great to work alongside Coach K … what an awesome representative of Duke. It's inspiring to see how he's built that program. It's one of the things that we've talked about when I visited with him. When he came to Duke, after being the head coach for five years at [Army] West Point, and how it was a big step up for him. He shared some great insight with me on that transition for him and he was very supportive. I've known Coach K since 2008. In Beijing, he was the coach of the men's team and I was there with the women's team. And we actually walked to the opening ceremony together and had a great conversation. I would come back and watch some of his practices, obviously as a broadcaster, and I have a great relationship with a lot of guys from his staff [Jeff[ Capel and Chris [Carrawell] … all those guys reached out to me. Obviously [Jon] Scheyer … I've known Nate [James] since high school. A lot of great connections to the men's side of the program."

Duke Introduces Lawson as Head Women's Basketball Coach

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