Will Weaver has gone from NBA assistant to head coach of multiple successful basketball teams. Is Weaver the next out of left field coach for an NBA team?
Will Weaver has made some buzz in the NBA world recently as ESPN’s Brian Windhorst has said on the Hoop Collective podcast that Weaver is a possible candidate for the head coaching job vacancies with the New Orleans Pelicans and the OKC Thunder.
In all likelihood, he will not get these two positions as Stan Van Gundy seems to be the Pelicans current lead candidate and OKC is still an enigma. It’s safer to go with an established previous NBA head coach in those situations, but time will tell.
His resume is impressive, after a few years as a coaching assistant in the NCAA, Weaver was hired to coach alongside Brett Brown with the Philadelphia 76ers and eventually landed under Kenny Atkinson with the Brooklyn Nets in 2016. Weaver went on to be the head coach of the Nets’ G-League affiliate, the Long Island Nets, and took them to the Finals in the 2018-19 season while winning Coach of the Year.
Weaver is currently the head coach of the Sydney Kings in the NBL (Australian league) and led the team of borderline NBA talent with Jae’Sean Tate, Casper Ware Jr., and an aging Andrew Bogut to the league’s best record (20-8) and into the NBL Grand Final. The series ended prematurely due to COVID-19 and the Perth Wildcats, who led 2-1 in a five-game series, defaulted as champions. (Perth were likely to win anyway but anything can happen)
Between all that he was also an assistant for the Australian Boomers (their national basketball program). So with all that being said, it seems like Weaver could be a lead assistant on any NBA team right now — but this all suggests that the NBA head coaches are ready to welcome Will Weaver into its exclusive club.
How does Weaver coach? What are the areas he can work on? Let’s find out.