Phoenix Mercury Lawsuit: Race, Pay, and Coaching Controversies

Nikki Blue, former interim head coach of the Phoenix Mercury, is suing the organization over alleged pay disparities and claims she was set up to fail with her roster. The lawsuit highlights complex discussions around race, gender, and compensation in WNBA coaching positions, though Blue's claims face scrutiny given team performance metrics.

• Detailed explanation of interim head coach roles in professional basketball
• Examination of pay differences between Blue ($250,000 for half-season) versus Vanessa Nygaard ($375,000 for full season)
• Analysis of current Mercury success under new head coach Nate Tibbitt with NBA coaching experience
• Comparison of 2023 Phoenix Mercury roster to Seattle Storm showing potential team performance issues
• Discussion of optics surrounding transitions between coaches of different racial backgrounds
• Consideration of how Mercury's current success might impact public perception of the lawsuit

Like, subscribe, and comment your thoughts on the Phoenix Mercury being sued by Nikki Blue. Check out the WNBA's page as well as mine, and let me know if you think she has a legitimate case.

Chapters

• 0:00 Show Introduction and Topic Preview
• 0:56 Understanding Interim Head Coach Roles
• 1:40 Nikki Blue's Lawsuit Against Mercury
• 3:21 Analyzing Nikki's Claims and Team Results
• 4:56 Potential Outcomes and Future Implications
• 8:10 Episode Wrap-Up and Call to Action

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

What's up everybody? It's your favorite show's favorite show Get a Bucket. I'm your host, trey, and as usual, I hope you're all having a wonderful, wonderful day. Today we're going to talk about, well, wnba coaching changes and drama, but before we do that, please make sure to hit that like and subscribe button. Comment, tell anyone who's anyone about the show, trying to get the ratings up a little bit, you know, just a little bit.

Speaker 1: 0:20

Like I said, we're going to talk about wmba coaching changes and a little drama because, well, there's been some exciting things that's been happening in the wmba. I gotta say that now it sparked off with the phoenix mercury, hence the jersey. You know I'm saying shout out dt, love you, baby, you know I mean. Um, she's not on the team, no more. She definitely retired, for those y'all who aren't aware. But, uh, what happened was there was a former interim head coach who has a gripe right now with the Mercury, okay, and so we're going to talk about that story as well as what an interim head coach is, because some of y'all might be wondering what that is. So, with that being said, let's look at it like this right, a head coach is the person who's running shop. They're running the team from an x's and o's standpoint, at least in theory. Right, the interim head coach is when the head coach has been deemed that they can't do their job no more. That's why they got the boot. And then the interim head coach is basically the assistant head coach. So it's like a sub, like a think about it, like school. You know, I'm saying you got a teacher and then a substitute teacher, just that that substitute teacher has a little bit more permanent basis on their resume, at least for the. You got to mess up badly if you're an interim head coach to lose your job during the season. Still, you just got to be ass. I'm telling you right now. I'm sorry.

Speaker 1: 1:38

So what happened here, ladies and gentlemen? And let's go ahead and pull it up to the screen. We have here which one was it? Here we go. So we have Nikki Blue, who is having a gripe with the Phoenix Mercury, right, and her. Her gripe is this she wasn't making enough, like she was saying she didn't make as much as vanessa nygaard, and she also stated that you know, the roster um was set up to fail, all right. Well, let's look at this, uh, nikki, because, keep in mind, we're making it seem like it's a racial standpoint, and you know we got to, we got to be careful about that. So here is the. Here is the former head coach, vanessa Nygaard, right. And here is the current head coach, nate Tibbitt. Now, nate, as y'all can see, coached for the Magic, so he's had some NBA time, right? Hence why the Phoenix Mercury decided to bring him in.

Speaker 1: 2:39

So for me, ladies and gentlemen, I get why the pay disparity is a little bit different. Now, we're talking about this from a racial standpoint. We can talk about this from a gender standpoint, right. Men and women, black, white. I get it wholeheartedly, I genuinely do.

Speaker 1: 2:53

Money-wise, though, nikki, you were getting $250,000 for half the season. Vanessa got $375,000 for a full season, fired midway during the season, right. So that means like half of her paycheck, half of Vanessa's paycheck, is $187,000. $187.5 thousand dollars, to be exact. So, like Nikki, you getting more than Vanessa. Then we talking about Nate all right, cool. Well, let me let's call a spade a spade, all right. Nate was able to finesse his NBA pedigree to get the job done, and I mean, I mean, it's no slight that you know what I'm saying. Look, this is where they look. This is where the Phoenix Mercury are right now, number two in the league I can't be upset with Nate, so your argument does not look the best right now.

Speaker 1: 4:07

We can talk about okay, your roster was set up to fail and this is about the 2023 season. To be to be clear, ladies and gentlemen, okay, this is the 2023 season, so let you know what. Let's let's pull the plug back up to Nikki, right, nikki? If we did compare your roster to the 2023 storm roster, y'all should have outplayed them. In my personal opinion, I don't think your roster was as bad as you're claiming it to be now. You could have said hey, maybe y'all could have used a couple more tweaks. I hear you. I personally thought y'all should have outplayed the storm in 2023. So, again, I I can't say y'all were, you were put in a bad spot.

Speaker 1: 4:56

Now we have had situations, ladies and gentlemen, where we've seen players or coaches get fired and then the interim head coach retained a job. It's not as easy peasy to to retain your job, though I will say that as an interim head coach. So, nikki, I do get it, I do get the gripe, but this is not an Ime, udoka and Joe Mazzulla situation. All right Now, with Ime, he did at least take his team to the finals. He had some cachets, so that's not what you were doing. But also, you had a different squad and again, joe reaped the benefits of Emae's success. You did not have that, nikki.

Speaker 1: 5:37

So I do hear you on you feeling, though you were not set up for success and, to be honest with you a lot of times, if you're an interim head coach, you're not going to be set up for success a lot of times, because, guess what? The coach got fired more than likely. Now there's a possibility where you know what? Buddy might have got injured, and then you get replaced and then you have some success. That might happen from time to time, but very rarely does that happen. It's more so when a person got fired.

Speaker 1: 6:08

Now again, nicky, you could very well join another squad and become a head coach, and now you could rival up against the Mercury. Like there are a couple of new teams coming up in the WNBA that could use a head coach. Let's see if you could actually coach them. Then that's a fair shot. Get you there for a couple seasons and see what the team is looking like, because we see what the Valkyries are looking like right now. So I think that would's a fair shot. Get you there for a couple seasons and see what the team is looking like, because we see what the Valkyries are looking like right now. So I think that would be a fair shot for you. Or maybe go coach the Sun somewhere. But I can't say, nicky, that you weren't given a fair shot because again, you did not outplay the storm and I thought you could have in 2023.

Speaker 1: 6:48

Your paycheck ain't that bad, so I'm going to keep it a buck with you, especially for half the season. That ain't bad, nikki, that's not bad. But I do hear you on the gripe, especially because the optics right. You got the current head coach in Nate Tibbitt. You know what I'm saying. You have Vanessa Nygaard, I do hear you. I do hear you on the optics because there is a difference skin complexion wise. I just don't know how much that factored in this go-round, but I mean, I'm waiting to see how it all unfolds too, because again she is suing the phoenix mercury. So we'll wait to see how that plays out.

Speaker 1: 7:29

But I am definitely, I am definitely curious how this one unfolds, ladies and gentlemen, but just optics wise is not the best. Look for nikki. Again, the mercury are doing quite well. Especially what if the mercury win this year too? I wonder if this starts to get pushed down like I wonder if the mercury starting to bury this or try to bury this story. I wonder if this story gets buried because of the, because of the success of the phoenix mercury. That's what I'll be paying attention to personally. Also how much credibility this story actually has too, because you can't, let's not, get into that.

Speaker 1: 7:59

But again though, ladies and gentlemen, I am definitely curious about this story. I'm curious what y'all are thinking about it. I don't know if y'all even knew about it, but hey, let me know your thoughts. But, ladies and gentlemen, I think that does about conclude the end of this episode. So I greatly appreciate your time, effort and energy. Well, I guess my effort, well y'all effort too, for listening right now I'm pretty sure I appreciate y'all for listening. But that's the end of the episode. So definitely make sure y'all comment your thoughts on what you think about the phoenix mercury being sued by nikki blue, the former head or the former interim head coach. I guess you could still call her head coach, right, but then also, does she have any credibility? Look into that and let me know your thoughts. So please make sure to like, subscribe and and comment on the WNBA's page as well as myself. But my name is Trey. I'm the host of Get A Bucket. Hope you all are having a good one, take care.