New Duke basketball coach Kara Lawson gets glowing reviews from peers
New Duke basketball coach Kara Lawson is getting glowing reviews from her peers after reportedly accepting the head coaching job of the women’s program.
The Duke Women’s Basketball team has officially hired Boston Celtics assistant Kara Lawson to be the next head coach of the program, and the basketball savant has been getting glowing reviews from her peers around the industry.
Lawson has been around the game of basketball her entire life from starring at Tennessee under legendary head coach Pat Summit, being named a WNBA All-Star, working as a basketball analyst for ESPN and a handful of NBA teams, and ultimately ending up as an assistant coach with the Celtics.
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Despite crushing the dreams of Duke fans at the 2003 Final Four, in which the Volunteers defeated the Blue Devils, Lawson did have some connections to Durham thanks to her time in Boston.
Boston Celtics Co-Owner, Stephen Pagliuca, graduated from Duke in 1977 and still serves on the Board of Trustees. Many Blue Devils fans would remember his son, Nick Pagliuca, as a walk-on for the men’s team from 2013-2017.
Duke made the official announcement that Lawson would replace Joanne P. McCallie on Saturday afternoon, but congratulations and recognition began to trickle out once reports surfaced on Friday.
Kara Lawson’s colleagues at ESPN were some of the first to congratulate the 39-year old head coach, such as college basketball analyst Dick Vital and football insider Louis Riddick.
Yes @karalawson20 would be a great hire to be @DukeWBB Coach / she is a winner with great hoops knowlege & is a terrific communicator .
— Dick Vitale (@DickieV) July 10, 2020
The news of @karalawson20 closing in on being named the new HC of Duke Women’s Basketball is 💪🏾. Wish I had been able to spend more time with her while she was at #ESPN. The moments we had, I could immediately sense she was special. Wanted to learn from her!
— Louis Riddick (@LRiddickESPN) July 10, 2020
Lawson’s partner at ESPN, Adam Amin, also gave a detailed response to Duke’s hire saying how smart of a basketball mind and elite person the new Blue Devil head coach is.
ALSO READ: Duke reportedly hiring Kara Lawson as women’s head coach
ESPN and ACC Network analyst LaChina Robinson also provided a video response on Duke’s latest hire.
"When I think of the Duke brand I think integrity, winning mentality, the pursuit of excellence. Kara Lawson has been all of those things."@LaChinaRobinson on @KaraLawson20 being named the head coach of @DukeWBB. pic.twitter.com/nbIMitffPj
— ACC Network (@accnetwork) July 11, 2020
However, perhaps the most important praise that Kara Lawson received was from her now-former boss Brad Stevens, the head coach of the Boston Celtics.
ALSO READ: Teammate of Duke alum says he’s on track to be best ever
Stevens was asked about the potential of Lawson leaving the team following Boston’s practice on Friday in Orlando, Florida at the NBA’s bubble, and while the head coach could not formally comment on the subject, his message was loud and clear.
Brad Stevens says he can't comment on Kara Lawson likely getting the Duke job but says, "Everybody knows how I feel about Kara Lawson."
— Jared Weiss (@JaredWeissNBA) July 10, 2020
That's highly, for the record.
Lastly, once the news became official on Saturday, former Duke star and current Celtics standout Jayson Tatum also had to welcome Kara Lawson to the Blue Devil family.
Congrats @karalawson20 welcome to the family!! https://t.co/L1qDroNzTz
— Jayson Tatum (@jaytatum0) July 11, 2020
Duke and Athletic Director Kevin White made the best hire possible, and it won’t be long before the Duke Lady Blue Devils are competing for National Championships on a regular basis.