Bad news for Paige Bueckers as Sandy Brondello reportedly makes decision on coaching future originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Sandy Brondello was themost coveted head coach on the market following her surprise dismissal from the New York Liberty last month. Given her lengthy track record of success, Brondello was going to have her pick of jobs — and the most fascinating potential opening was in Dallas, where the Wings were looking to replace Chris Koclanes after one season on the sidelines.
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But according to Howard Megdal of The IX Basketball, the expansion Toronto Tempo have won the race for Brondello, agreeing to terms with the two-time WNBA champion to be the first coach in Tempo history.
MORE: Former NBA coach emerges as candidate to lead Paige Bueckers’ Wings
Details of Brondello’s contract have not been revealed, but her arrival in Toronto will raise expectations for the expansion franchise that is set to begin play in 2026 — that is, assuming that the WNBA and the WNBPA reach an understanding over a new collective bargaining agreement.
Brondello, 57, is one of the winningest coaches in WNBA history. Her 269 regular-season wins rank sixth all-time; only Minnesota’s Cheryl Reeve has accrued more wins among active coaches. Brondello won a WNBA championship with the Phoenix Mercury in 2014 before she led the Liberty to their first-ever title in 2024; over 13 years as head coach, Brondello’s teams have finished with a sub-.500 record only four times.
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Many observers anticipated that Brondello would succeed Koclanes in Dallas, where she would have the chance to work with blossoming superstar Paige Bueckers in a bid to open a championship window in Dallas.
Title contention may yet become a reality for the Wings; after all, Bueckers already looks like she will be one of the best players of her generation. But Brondello reportedly has chosen a more audacious path: to build a winner from the ground up, up north, as the WNBA expands into Canada for the first time.
