Photographic Memory: Dawn Staley

WNBA.com's "Photographic Memory" asks players to look at a photo of themselves and talk about what it captures -- what was going through their mind at that moment of the game and what the photo reveals about their style. Here, Charlotte Stng point guard Dawn Staley talks about calling plays and being a coach on the floor as well as off the court.


Charlotte's Dawn Staley calls plays in a uniform and something a bit more formal.
Jesse D. Garrabrant/WNBAE/Getty Images

What are you trying to do here in this photo?
"When I call that play, I just think about Andrea Stinson. It's a clear-out for her.."

How important is the role of the point guard on the court?
"I think it's a great responsibility. It's a great challenge. I think the results is the thing that I get moved by. When we're able to execute a play that our coach has diagrammed up in a timeout, and then we at least a good luck, if the bucket goes down, that's all the better.."

As a coach at Temple and a point guard in the WNBA, how many similarities do you see between yourself on the floor and yourself on the sidelines?
"There are a lot of similarities. Play calls. I pretty much know what plays we're working into what defenses once the game is in progress. It's just on the sidelines, you can't pull people into the right places like you would if you were the point guard. So those are the kind of qualities I like to instill in any point guard that's going to be working under me."

You've been a point guard in college and the WNBA now about 11 years. Do you learn new things every time you step out on the court?
"You do learn new things because you're working with different people. And I think the biggest thing is trying to find out what moves a person because it may be some people are moved by just raising your voice, some people are moved by pulling them to the side, some people are moved by just a look and they'll know how to react to it. So I think it's your job as a point guard to figure out what moves that person so they can play their best basketball."

Is there any other type of role inthe corporate world that you see as similar to the point guard?
"You are a CEO. You're responsible for everything that goes down -- good, bad or indifferent."