Cavaliers Hire Cal Women’s HC Lindsay Gottlieb As An Assistant

Cavaliers Hire Cal Women’s HC Lindsay Gottlieb As An Assistant

After their first season without LeBron James, the Cleveland Cavaliers were absolutely abysmal as they finished the season with a record of 19-63. In the offseason, the team hired head coach John Beilein which was a move that came with a lot of criticism. The Cavaliers clearly don’t care about this criticism and are doing everything they can to give their team an edge heading into next season. Today, the team made even more steps to beef up their coaching staff as they announced the hiring of Cal women’s basketball head coach Lindsay Gottlieb.

According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, this is the first time in NBA history that an NCAA women’s basketball head coach was hired to be an assistant coach. There are already a few women assistant coaches in the league, although Gottlieb’s status as a head coach at the college level certainly makes her a significant hiring.

In eight seasons as head coach at Cal, Gottlieb has led the team to seven NCAA tournaments and even helped get them to the Final Four. She was the head coach of UC Santa Barbara for three years before heading to Cal in 2011.

The Cavaliers will have the fifth overall pick in the draft this year as they begin the rebuilding process.