Brittni Donaldson brings diversity to the Toronto Raptors coaching staff, not only because she’s one of 11 current female assistant coaches — and the youngest in the NBA at 26 years old. Donaldson carved her unconventional path to the top without relying on stardom from a WNBA career or her college days, and without significant previous coaching experience.
She did so through her passion for analytics.
The Raptors hired Donaldson as a data analyst for two seasons before Masai Ujiri and Nick Nurse saw her untapped potential firsthand. With a degree in statistics and actuarial sciences while playing college hoops at Northern Iowa, Donaldson knew the game as both a player and a scholar.