Los Angeles Sparks replace Jennifer Gillom with Kobe Bryant's father as the head coach – WNBA Update
The Los Angeles Sparks have fired Jennifer Gillom from the position of head coach and have promoted Joe Bryant in her place. The announcement was made by the team’s general manager Penny Toler last night.
With this move, the slumping Los Angeles became the second Western Conference team to make a coaching change in the first week of July. The league-worst Tulsa Shock have already replaced Nolan Richardson and hired Teresa Edwards
as a head coach on an interim basis.
Toler confirmed in his official statement that was released after the team’s announcement, which the step has been taken in the best interest of the team.
"This was a very difficult decision, but I felt it was necessary to take the team in a different direction at this point in the season. Joe's familiarity with the Sparks organization puts us in the best possible position to compete
going forward, and should make for a seamless transition," Toler said.
Gillom, who helped the United States women basketball team to a gold medal in the 1988 Summer Olympics, was hired as the Sparks head coach in December 2009. The 47-year-old Hall of Famer led Los Angeles to a 13-21 mark the previous
season, one that ended with a loss to Seattle Storm in the conference semi-finals.
In this season, the Sparks are in the midst of a five-game losing streak – their longest since 2007, and are 4-6 overall. The major reason for the slump, according to many analysts though, has been the injury to Candace Parker,
who is out for minimum six weeks with a right knee injury.
Gillom in her fare well note said, "I want to thank everyone in the Sparks organization for the opportunity to serve as head coach, especially Penny Toler. I enjoyed coaching the players and working alongside my staff, and am confident
they will accomplish great things this season."
Her replacement has come in the form of Joe Bryant, the father of the Los Angeles Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant. The 56-year-old, more commonly known as the Jelly Bean Bryant, has been the Sparks head coach from August 22, 2005
till April 4, 2007. He led the team to the second-best record in the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) and Western Conference Finals in 2006. The management brought him back into the team on March 11, 2011 as an assistant coach along with Sandy
Brondello.
Bryant sounded confident in pulling Sparks out of their current losing streak and inculcate in them a winning mentality.
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