Fireball offered many amazing events over the past five years and many of them were fun for supporters. Big3 has many interesting stories and spectators of this beautiful 3×3 basketball league are curious to know as much as possible about them. These stories touched deeply hearts of true fans of the game on one rim.
One special story is a story about Lady Magic of American basketball – Nancy Liebermann. Nancy even got a nickname due to the popularity she enjoys in USA’s basketball circles. Liebermann is called fire because of her red hair. So let’s dive deep into the next paragraphs to find out more about her.
How was Nancy Liebermann’s college career?
Nancy was going to Old Dominion University in Virginia in the period from 1976 to 1980. Liebermann represented the university’s team. That era was very lucrative for Old Dominion as they won two titles of national Champions. Nancy Liebermann even got the Vade Trophy, the award for the national player of the year award on a women college basketball’s level.
This lady was a leader in assists in every season she performed for Old Dominion University in Virginia. Our hero got the nickname “Lady Magic” and set the school record for career assists – 961.
How did Nancy start a professional NBA career?
Liebermann was picked by Dallas Diamonds in 1980 in the draft pool. Nancy got the individual award for the Rookie of the year as she scored 26.3 points per game. Her contribution to Dallas’s qualification to the final was tremendous. This team eventually lost the final against Nebraska in five games, but everybody in the club could be happy with the result.
Nancy Liebermann represented La Lakers Summer Pro League team in the next year. A few years later, Nancy once again signed for Dallas and played for them.
What did Liebermann’s national career look like?
Nancy made a debut for USA national squad when she was only 17 years old. Liebermann was a member of the Pan American team in 1975. Pan American team missed winning the gold in 1967 and 1971. However, this lady won the gold medal in the Pan American Games. First Olympics women’s basketball tournament was Olympic Games held in Montreal in 1976.
USA women’s national squad took amazing second place and Nancy Liebermann represented them. Liebermann refused to play in the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow to support president Jimmy Carter. Nancy didn’t play anymore in Olympic Games for the USA.
How did her coaching career start?
Nancy Liebermann started her coaching career as a head coach of D-League’s Texas Legends. Texas Legends were competing in NBA Development League, now called NBA G League. This team was an affiliate of the Dallas Mavericks. In that way, Nancy became the first woman to take charge of the professional men’s basketball team.
The club started playing games in 2010. Liebermann then went to work in Texas in marketing and as part of a company that communicates with clients. Hero of these paragraphs transferred to the analyst field where she worked as an analyst for Oklahoma City Thunder. Nancy became assistant coach in Sacramento Kings in 2015.
How did her coaching career in Big3 start?
Clyde Drexler left the position of coach of Power and open space was created in Power. Nancy took over Power, the team in Big3, in March of 2018. It was some kind of surprise and shock because a female coach took charge of the men’s Fireball team. Power’s board believed that Nancy’s experience and competitive spirit can help in their ambitions.
This team finished the regular part in first place in the standings with a 7-1 score. Liebermann’s team beat Tri State with 51-49 in the semifinal of the playoff. Power won against 3’s Company in the final with 51-43 and clinched the title.

How was the second season for Nancy in Power?
Nancy was in charge of Power in the 2019 season also. Liebermann tried to lead Power to the second consecutive title in Fireball. This team had a 5-3 score at the end of the third Big3 season and that was enough for a 5-3 season. They qualified for the playoff second season in a row and that was a good result.
However, Killer 3’s beat Power with 50-42 in the semifinal. The hope of defending the title was crushed in that game. 3 Headed Monsters pulled out a 50-42 victory and our hero’s team finished fourth in the final standings.
What happened in the next season with Nancy Liebermann?
After the pandemic, Fireball continued to be played. The fourth season of Big3 was spectacular and Nancy stayed as head coach of Power. This team had four wins and four losses at the end of the regular part of the season.
Unfortunately, it was insufficient for making it to the best four teams in the league. Power took sixth place in the overall standings. The supporters were a little bit disappointed after the previous two seasons. Ambitions of the club for the future didn’t decrease, though.
Which team did Liebermann coach in the 2022 season?
Power finished the regular 2022 season with a 5-3 score. This team finished in 3rd place and qualified for the Big3 playoff. It was a massive improvement from the fourth season and turned out that the new players strengthened the squad.
Power beat Three Headed Monsters in the thrilling semifinal with 51-49. The final game was played between Trilogy and Power. The Trilogy was too strong and won convincingly with 51-35. Nancy’s team showed that they are still capable of making huge things. Lieberman’s tactics and motivations push the squad to give maximum out of their abilities.
What is Nancy’s style of coaching?
Nancy points out communication as a crucial part of the atmosphere inside one team. Listening to others’ ideas and trying to find a balance between everyone’s opinions. Her choice is players with high IQ players for this game. Liebermann’s dedication to every segment of the game is astonishing. Nancy Lieberman uses a lot of video analysis to prepare fixture.
There is no game that her players don’t know how the opposite side will play and how her team will defend the opponent’s action. She sees 5×5 and 3×3 basketball very differently in terms of making her tactic and strategy for games. Her adjustment to a different basketball environment shows a lot about her professionalism.
How her collaboration with players looks like?
Liebermann is known for making a deep bond with players based on mutual respect. Every player has huge admiration and appreciation of what Nancy has achieved on the court and off the court.
This kind of relationship makes good results and chemistry inside the locker room. Liebermann doesn’t hesitate to include her tender and compassionate side in coaching. This lady cares very much about how her players are feeling on and off the court.
Nancy is a real role model for young generations of boys and girls who follow basketball. Liebermann has made it so much in her playing and coaching career until now, but she doesn’t plan to stop here. Nancy Liebermann’s life philosophy in private and business life is very simple. Respect and dignity are her symbols.
Her message to all of us is that communication makes the world go round. We can learn so much from her deeds and words. I hope these paragraphs will inspire you to start something on your own and to improve the quality of your life.
[…] fifth season of Big3. Nikoloz Tskitihisvili, the Georgian player, was attending Combine in 2021. Nancy Liebermann, Power’s coach, noticed his versatility and brought him to the […]