Five vacancies, five white coaching hires — the WNBA needs a Rooney Rule

Life can come at you quickly. It comes at you quicker.

The league held a press conference before the All-Star Game on July 10 at Wintrust Arena. When asked about the league's diversity, she said this.

She said that they have six out of 12 and that there were only a couple when she joined. We are looking at diversity in both genders and races.

Half the coaches in a league that's around 75 percent Black look like the players on the floor, as she mentioned. That is no longer the case. It didn't seem like a big deal when Mike Thibault announced that he was stepping down to become the team's general manager as his son Eric was going to be the head coach. At first glance, a franchise with a succession plan in the middle of the season doesn't seem to be much of a news story.

The league's head coaching vacancies were whitewashed when the move was made. At the All-Star break, there were six black coaches in the league, the most since 1998.

Just a few months ago, it was all great.

After Johnson was fired, Latricia Trammell took over in Dallas, while Christie Sides was brought in in Indiana, and Williams left Los Angeles to take a position at auburn. Eric Thibault took over for his father in D.C. after Miller left the Suns.

The WNBA lost three of its six Black head coaches in a matter of months, as white coaches filled all five of the league's vacancies. The opposite is happening in the NBA. More than half of the league's coaches are black. Including the first Asian-American coach in NBA history, it means that 17 of the league's 30 teams arehelmed by people of color.

The Rooney Rule mandated that teams interview minority candidates for head coaching jobs in the National Football League. As the league deals with a class-action lawsuit for its racist hiring practices, teams have found ways to skirt the rule.

The Rooney Rule has served as a constant reminder of the inequalities that are taking place when it comes to how owners hire head coaches, and points to the lengths that many will go to circumvent.

The league is in a position in which it can follow in the footsteps of the NBA and the NFL, which are at opposite ends of the spectrum. Whether it's a march in the direction of equality or a hike toward hate will be an important step for the WNBA.