Off The Court: Style of the WNBA is a series highlighting women in sports and their impact on the global fashion industry.
Three-time Olympic gold medalist. The highest-paid coach in women’s basketball. North Philly’s finest. Raised on the corner of 25th and Diamond, Dawn Staley is a woman of many titles and talents. One of the greatest guards in basketball history, she is the only person to win the Naismith Award as both a player and coach. To fans, she’s “Louis Vuitton Dawn,” a moniker Staley rightfully earned as the most stylish coach in the NCAA. To her players, she’s Coach Staley, their “dream merchant” as she’d say. Now, at 55, she’s added another accolade to the list: author.
Coming out May 20, 2025, “Uncommon Favor” tracks Staley’s story on and off the court, reflecting on the lessons she learned through life and leadership. Before she smashed records, clinched championships, and owned a pair of designer overalls, Staley was an introverted girl from the Raymond Rosen Projects with a fixation on basketball. “My book is just to pay it forward to other people,” said Staley. “I think the lessons in here are transferable to any profession.”
After playing professional basketball for a decade and solidifying her legacy as one of the WNBA’s pioneers, Staley was asked to coach at Temple University in 2000. A role that she had initially never fathomed for herself has now become a career spanning 25 years. Despite the fact that the NCAA estimates 45% of Division I Women’s Basketball players are Black, as of 2021, a mere 21% of head coaches are Black women.
Following in the footsteps of her predecessor Carolyn Peck, at the top of the 2021 season, Staley sent each Black woman coach in Division I basketball a piece of the Gamecocks’ 2017 championship net. In 2024, Staley made history as the first Black coach, male or female, to win three Division I Basketball titles.
“It’s a small percentage of us in this profession, and we’re too quiet with each other. We need to be more loud with each other, to help each other out and to share things that we need to navigate through this space. We don’t need it to become extinct, because we deserve opportunities to lead our own programs,” Staley tells ESSENCE.
Not only do Black coaches deserve to lead, but do so in a manner authentic to them. The first time I saw Coach Staley in person was December 15, 2019, as the Gamecocks were competing against Purdue at Colonial Life Arena. As she paced up and down the sideline, with her trademark rolled-up piece of paper in hand, I was mesmerized by Coach Staley’s floral, sequin-embellished tiger sweatshirt from Gucci. When it comes to courtside couture, no one is seeing her.
Her style acumen comes as no surprise, considering she was one of the first female basketball players with a signature shoe. In the 1990s, young girls wanted to emulate her iconic stacks haircut. Today, tribute tees to Staley are selling out in under 24 hours. For Staley, her clothes are not about the flash, but it’s about staying true to who she is and remembering how far she’s come.
“My jewelry actually is just [for] perspective. I met some young people who were going through their treatments, handling life-threatening illnesses like true champions,” said Staley, who received her multicolor necklaces and bracelets from visiting cancer patients in the hospital.
“They’re able to do it with great strength, great pride and perspective. I wear them because I want it to be a constant reminder [that] life is too short sometimes,” she continued. “I get a lot of flack about not wearing our school colors, about wearing my Philadelphia Eagles jerseys, or about some other color that’s not garnet and black. But I think you can be who you are and be on the sideline.”
Below Coach Dawn Staley spoke to ESSENCE about her forthcoming book, how comfort drives the way she dresses, being a sneakerhead and her reflections on how women’s basketball has grown.
ESSENCE: The theme for your basketball team this past season was “uncommon.” Tell me how and why you landed on the title “Uncommon Favor” for your new book and what that means to you.
Dawn Staley: From where I grew up to where my life’s journey has taken me—and how much my cup has runneth over—it was the perfect title to sum up my life. God really pulled a fast one on me when it comes to giving me the unimaginable. All I wanted to do was play basketball and play it for as long as I could play it. I was given that opportunity, then from that, other aspirations have come. To come from North Philly, to be able to accomplish as much as I’ve accomplished…it’s not just me. Most people take sole ownership and they’re like, “Oh, this is me! I put in all the work.” I’m like, “I put in some work, but so do a lot of people.” A lot of people put in the work, yet they don’t get a chance to write a book about the many things that have shaped their lives. My life has been so fulfilling, all because I could play basketball, then from that coach and have the type of success that I’ve had. If it were common, then anybody could do it, anybody could have the type of success, but it’s uncommon favor from the Man above. I wrestled with what the title should be, and I never had any other name that was fitting. It sums up the story and the journey of my life.
Who or what sparked the idea for you to write a memoir?
It started off in 2022. Charlemagne Tha God approached me about writing a book. Everybody, probably for the past 20 years, has been like, “You need to write a book.” I’m like, “Write a book about what?” Slowly, we had those conversations, then over the past year, I agreed. It becomes hard because you’re committed to these deadlines, and I had so much stuff going on. I read books, I listen to books, but to actually sit down and go through how I wanted to go about doing it? That’s different. I didn’t want an autobiography. I was like, “No, I’ll be bored with that.” I decided to do a book on leadership because that’s what I’m feeling. I want to share all the things that have shaped me: the Good, the Bad, the Ugly. Put it into a book where other people can utilize it, reference it, and have an opportunity to navigate through their issues and problems. Hopefully, after they jump that hurdle, they’ll be able to pay it forward.
Your book opens with a dedication to your siblings, your hometown, and your mother, who you describe as “a true Southern woman.” As the NCAA’s flyest coach, how did your mother impact your fashion sense or raise you to think about how you show up daily?
My mother had great style. Style for her was [dressing for] church. My mother was a shapely woman in that she kept Lane Bryant, Ashley Stewart, and Belk in business. When my mother was living, it used to be a true thrill to take her shopping. She’s frugal, too. She’s not buying designer. She just knows what she likes. To take her shopping and have her pick out anything she wanted in the store, she would probably only pick out two or three things, because she was just that unselfish. But she knew what she wanted and she got what she liked. I would say, for me, I know what I like. I don’t mind paying the price for the things that I like, but I also watch when things go on sale to get a good deal. I got that sense of understanding that you don’t always have to pay top dollar. You can wait a season to get it and it comes in a lot cheaper, so I learned that from my mom.
On the sidelines, you’ve worn everything from Balenciaga to Givenchy, Gucci and of course, Louis Vuitton. When did you first start hearing your nickname, “Louis Vuitton Dawn,” and what was your initial reaction? Do you feel any pressure to keep up the fashions?
I like things that will last. I like quality. The stuff that I buy is timeless. I can wear it in five years, and it will still be a statement. When I first heard [“Louis Vuitton Dawn”], it was probably on the internet. People are incredibly creative and funny. Do I feel the pressure to keep up with it? No, because it’s all about comfort for me. I’m no longer going to wear four-inch heels because they’re not comfortable. I don’t just shop high end, but if I do shop high end, I catch sales. And here’s the thing: when you have access to people that work in these luxury stores, they send you stuff on approval. They send you boxes of stuff and you look through them, like “Ooo, I like that!” or “No, I don’t like that.” You keep the stuff that you want, and you send the other stuff back. It’s just access to things. We don’t have high-end shopping here in Columbia, South Carolina, but we do have it up the street in North Carolina. Atlanta’s three hours away, but you don’t really have time to go to those places. They’ll send the merchandise, you pick from it, and you’re good to go. That’s kind of how I have to shop.
In the book, you mention wearing a specific ensemble in a 2021 game against UCONN to honor a late coach and mentor. When you’re dressing up for games, is there a mantra that you abide by? I’ve noticed as you’re progressing through March Madness, the courtside looks just keep getting better.
That’s good that you notice that because I do try to take it one step further in the tournament. When you grow up in North Philly, we didn’t have a whole lot. What I did have was sneakers. I didn’t care what I looked like from my ankles up. I had sneakers. It was the thing that really hit home for me, because it was the only thing that we could afford. If I had to choose between clothes and sneakers, I’m choosing sneakers. So when I’m getting ready for a game, I probably try on a few different outfits that would fit that particular game. When I’m getting ready for the tournament, if I try on an outfit that I want to wear for a particular game in a tournament, and it fits just right? I’m like, “Nah, that’s [for the] Final Four.” And I might lose out and not be able to wear it, because we might lose! But I’m like, “I can’t wear this right now. This fits too nice. It looks too good. It’s gotta be the National Championship or Final Four.” Then, I have to tone it down, but it’s all about comfort.
I wore a lot of garnet this year. I get a lot of flack about not wearing our school colors, about wearing my Philadelphia Eagles jerseys, or about some other color that’s not garnet and black. But I think you can be who you are and be on the sideline. I’m not from South Carolina, but I do represent South Carolina extremely well. I also like to have some statement pieces about what’s happening in our world. I wore a Cheney [State College] jersey to salute C. Vivian Stringer for just being a historic coach. I wore Jalen Hurts’ [jersey] because he’s a friend, he represents my hometown team, and we won the Super Bowl. So, why not? I’ll take some flack from the people, but at the same time, I’m gonna be who I am.
After Sheryl Swoopes, you were the third WNBA player to have a signature shoe: the Nike Air Zoom S5. Days ago, you just supported one of your own players, A’ja Wilson, at her signature shoe release. What does that full circle moment mean to you, especially as there are constant conversations about the marketability of Black WNBA players?
It’s just…wow. A’ja is a part of my life, right? All of my former players are a part of my life—and I do think it’s just uncommon. It just doesn’t happen the way it’s happened for the people that I’m closest to. There was a big controversy over A’ja not having a shoe. If you’re in this shoe business, you know that it takes at least two years for a shoe to be produced and designed.
To wear her shoes, to see everybody in the stadium wearing her shoe, to go to the Nike store and see the lines of people waiting outside to get in, to see all the people who got rejected on social media that didn’t get the shoe, that’s like people not getting the Jordans when they come out. That is on that level. To see the demand for her shoe and watch it sell out? I mean, I’m a part of history when it comes to one of my players. I see the fruits of their labor. I see her being a brand ambassador for so many brands. I’m just truly happy because she’s creating generational wealth. No one could have ever thought by playing this game that you could make a career out of it and make more money outside of your salary than you do anywhere else. I’m super proud. Although she’s humble, she’s getting her flowers while she can smell them. That’s all we ask. That’s all we want for our kids and all the people that we have relationships with.
Being a sneakerhead, do you recall your reaction when Nike approached you about a signature shoe?
I was teammates with Sheryl Swoopes and Lisa Leslie. Sheryl was the first to get a signature shoe, and Lisa was the second. I didn’t really think I had a shot at getting a signature shoe. It wasn’t even on my radar. I was just happy for my teammates! But then, when you are around Nike, they’ll have all of us Nike athletes in a room, and we were just having a conversation about shoes. I probably had given more suggestions on shoes than any of my teammates at the time, then they approached me about a signature shoe, And I’m like, “What?! Cool, yes, let’s do it. Let’s do it.” Because I was really knowledgeable, they had me try on different shoes, play in different shoes, and I would give them feedback. “No, this leather seems a little giving.” I think they really liked the fact that I knew a lot about sneakers and it was my passion, so it was more about the story versus maybe me being a household name. I think when there’s a story behind sneakers or any product, it resonates with a mass of people.
What’s the very first shoe that you fell in love with, and what are you wearing these days?
I’ll tell you the shoe that I could not afford that I absolutely wanted. It was an Adidas shoe. Sorry, Nike! I like tennis, and Ivan Lendl was my favorite tennis player. He wore these Adidas Forum shoes. I actually got a pair late in my 20s and 30s, when they came back out and retro’d them. I got a pair of them and that was my shoe. They were like $100 and I couldn’t afford them. Now, my everyday shoe is the Converse [Run Star] Hikers. They’re the most comfortable shoes ever, and they give me about two to three inches because they’ve got a thick sole.
The past several years have been such a whirlwind, from your statue announcement in 2023 to a perfect, undefeated season and getting flowers from Beyoncé. Let’s talk about that moment. Where were you when they came and what happened?
I was actually in the office. One of my former players—she was part of my first recruiting class when I got into coaching 25 years ago—has been on our staff for the past 13 years. She saw this big bouquet of flowers come in and started screaming. She didn’t really even know. When she led the people in who were bringing them, it almost seemed like there were armored people, but it wasn’t.
When I read the card, I’m like, “You gotta be kidding me.” When Beyonce said, we watched your games? She may not have watched it, but the fact that she said it made me feel like she really watched our games! I’ve been a Beyonce fan forever. Never had a chance to meet her. I’ve been close to her, I’ve been to several concerts, and she touched my fingertips in the pit. But to get a bouquet from her? She doesn’t do things that she doesn’t feel. For her to think of us in that way and send some merchandise, I mean, that was probably the best thing that happened to me and us during our championship run last year.
During your statue unveiling, you said that having a monument in your image was never even a goal or a thought. You actually wanted A’ja’s statue to be the lone one on campus. While you may have felt like you didn’t need the attention, what was the collective community response?
Well, [Columbia] Mayor Rickenmann pushed for it. He really wanted this to happen, so I give him a lot of credit. When I was told about the percentage of women who are honored in this way around the world, that was eye opening for me. That was probably the thing that changed my mind the most—and I’m for change. I’m for giving people a ray of hope with my mentorship, with my style of coaching, with my leadership. You know you have to sacrifice sometimes in order for you to move the needle in this space. So I agreed to do it on the basis of that.
I get the sense that you really care about the holistic development of your players, from their academic performance to their mental resilience. Tell me what your players mean to you and what values you really hope to instill in them.
I mean, it’s really obvious that I really love what I’m doing and I’m living out my purpose. My players give me stamina. I just finished my 25th year of coaching and it gets harder, but it doesn’t get old. To see the impact and to see one of my players who’s in a WNBA training camp, send me a text message to say, “Thank you for preparing me. I know everything I need to know,” that’s stamina.
That gives me so much more to give to our current roster. Because if I pour into them, they can pour into their careers, and they’re more prepared for when they get the opportunity to actually capture their lifelong dream. So, they mean everything. Some of my former players are some of my best friends, and I think that’s super cool of the dynamics of coaching and what it can do for you. When you’re hanging around young people, they keep you young, they keep you on your toes, they keep you inspired. They keep you wanting to give more to them, so they’re prepared for anything that life throws at them.
In what ways do you feel like you’ve grown through authorship or is there anything you were surprised to learn about yourself through this process? I was personally stunned learning about how shy you were growing up.
Well, probably doing interviews like this. I often wonder what other people take from the book. Like, you just talked about my shyness. There are a lot of shy people you know around the country that will really resonate with it, and I didn’t realize it. I did two interviews today and they brought up that they didn’t know that about me, that I was incredibly shy. It’s because they’ve seen me just in my adulthood, but growing up before I was a teenager, I was really shy.
I know it’s hard to believe, but I do prefer chilling. I can go hours without talking to anybody and I’m okay. It’s what other people are getting from the book: to learn about my mother because she’s very significant in my life, to learn about me being the youngest of five. That’s a hard place to be in a whole family dynamic. When you’re the youngest, you have to share everything. I even share my birthday with my oldest brother. I think a lot of my life will be very familiar with the readers and the listeners. So I’m excited to just get more feedback. I’m actually excited to hear what the critics have to say about it as well, but it’s only been love, which is, which is great.
What was the most challenging or rewarding part of the writing process of “Uncommon Favor?”
The most challenging part was actually trying to remember everything. When you write your first book, you want [to include] everything that really shaped your life, and you want to give a vivid picture of what it was like during that time. I had to utilize my siblings to really fill in some blanks that I didn’t remember. It was kind of cool just reminiscing with them, but it wasn’t really a hardship.
Meeting deadlines may have been the hardest thing. We had a really good team of people that kept me on task. It took probably a year to really get it organized, to a good place where we can roll. I did the audio as well—and that was harder than actually writing the book. Reading it was much harder to do and much more exhausting, because you’re in [the studio] for six-hour blocks. I had an issue saying “shrugged,” and I just could not get over that word. But it was fun.
You were so integral to the creation of the WNBA. How do you feel seeing the game grow in size and cultural impact? What does it mean to you to see people pouring into women’s basketball?
Well, here’s the thing: I think decision makers in our game are now forced to do it, whether they like to or not, because we’re in high demand. Because of that, people want to see us on television. People want young women to be brand ambassadors. [Women’s basketball] is a great product. Because our game has been held back for so long, you didn’t know whether the product was good or not, right? You would just have snippets of this or that on TV. Now, it’s every day. You’re seeing the pure beauty of our game, the pure beauty of talent that is within our game. You’re seeing talented coaches, the fans who are students of the game.
Obviously, fan bases are biased with the teams that they support but when it really comes down to it, they really understand good basketball. You have fan bases going at each other all the time on social media—and it can really get nasty—but I would say this: that’s what’s happening in every sport. We’re going to have to take the nastiness in hopes that if you stick around long enough, you’ll get to the point where you’re able to respect people’s perspective even though it differs from yours. We haven’t gotten there just yet, but I think we’re at a really good place where there’s no turning back. We’re going to force the issue to the point where the salaries will start matching up with the interest. We’re getting there.
From making a cameo on “Martin” to starring in Nike ads, serving as a U.S. flag bearer at the Olympics, earning a spot in the Naismith Hall of Fame, you’ve done everything, Coach Staley. What do you want to do next?
The thing is I’ve only had two goals in my life: the Olympics and [winning a] national championship. Other than that, I’m fine doing what I’m doing, which is being a dream merchant for my players. Anything outside of that is going to just happen. I didn’t want to write a book; someone approached me about writing a book. I just live life as simple as possible. If opportunities come and I think they’re fulfilling in some type of way, then I’ll do it. But I’m not out seeking to do anything. I’m okay with sitting still, being in my house, watching television and enjoying the simpler things in life. But if something has the opportunity to move me and to make an impact, then I’ll do it.