Mercury hire former WNBA player and NBA assistant Kristi Toliver as associate head coach

PHOENIX (AP) — The Phoenix Mercury have hired three-time WNBA All-Star and former NBA assistant Kristi Toliver as associate head coach.

Toliver will join the staff of first-year coach Nate Tibbetts in the hiring announced Friday.

Toliver played 14 WNBA seasons with Washington, Los Angeles and Chicago, earning two WNBA titles. She averaged 11.8 points and 3.4 assists before suffering a season-ending torn ACL after 11 games with the Mystics last season.

Toliver became the first active WNBA player to serve as an NBA assistant coach when she joined Scott Brooks' staff in Washington. She coached four seasons in the NBA, two with Washington and two on Jason Kidd's staff in Dallas.

The Mercury hired Tibbetts in October after Phoenix finished a WNBA-worst 9-31. Vanessa Nygaard was fired in late June and assistant Nikki Blue promoted to head coach for the rest of the season. The Mercury have a strong older core built around Brittney Griner and Diana Taurasi.

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