WNBA legend Candice Dupree finds her coaching path with San Antonio Spurs —

Candice Dupree didn’t know the 2021 WNBA season would be her last.

Following the conclusion of the season, Dupree was battling an injury that required offseason surgery. After undergoing rehab, and with another WNBA season looming, Dupree would need to ramp up her workouts to return to playing shape. What she found is she had no desire to do so.

“It was like overnight, I’m done,” Dupree said. “I just left it at that. With the exception of my family, nobody knew that I was going to be done. Nobody.”

Dupree never released a formal announcement of her retirement, opting instead to quietly walk away from the WNBA after 16 seasons. She left a statistical imprint that cements her status as one of the league’s best ever: the most 2-point field goals made in WNBA history, seventh all-time in rebounding, fifth all-time in games played, fifth on the all-time scoring list.

While it wasn’t the ending to her career she had pictured, Dupree was ready to begin her next chapter. 

“It was time to explore different options, spend more time with my girls. I moved on from the W and moved on to the next stage of my life,” Dupree said.

For Dupree, that next stage has been coaching. In October, Dupree began her second season as a player development coach with the San Antonio Spurs. It’s not a job Dupree imagined she would pursue, but now she is attacking her new career with the same passion, goal-setting and grind she had as a player.

As Dupree transitioned into retirement and began mulling her prospects of what could come next, she received a call from a friend in the WNBA league office who suggested she look into the NBA Coaching Development Program.

The CDP program was launched in 1988 and has become an opportunity for former players looking to launch careers as NBA coaches. Alumni of the program include Detroit Pistons head coach Monty Williams, who participated in the program in 2006. Brooklyn Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn participated in 2010.

Dupree didn’t believe she had the patience to be a coach, but she joined the program in an effort to explore her options. She had heard about a similar opportunity for front-office development and figured she would partake in that after finishing the program. She wouldn’t need to.

“The coaching side just happened to fit,” Dupree said. 

Through the monthslong coaching program, Dupree learned how to build scouting reports, network and learn the platforms commonly used to cut and analyze film. She underwent one of her first coaching experiences at the NBA draft combine where she was charged with leading a team of prospects for half of the event’s scrimmage.

It was at the combine where Dupree met Spurs assistant coach Mitch Johnson. Johnson asked Dupree to be a…