$12M worth Dawn Staley reveals one Hall of Fame award that means the most to South Carolina HC

Dawn Staley has been one of the most influential figures in USA women's basketball. She was a fantastic player who had an illustrious career filled with trophies, and then she dived into coaching and became one of the most prominent names in women's college basketball.

She was inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame in 2013 for her exceptional contribution to the sport as a player. Before that, the $12 million worth coach (per Celebrity Net Worth) was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2012.

On Thursday, Staley appeared on the "Not Gonna Lie" podcast with Kylie Kelce and touched on a lot of topics. She also spoke about her Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame induction and what it meant to her back then.

"It's the Naismith Hall of Fame. Like, the Basketball Hall of Fame ... That was probably the only selfish award that I wanted. Like I didn’t really care about anything else. But the Naismith was near and dear to me because so many greats are in it," Staley shared her feelings of getting inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. (Timestamps: 19:32)

"And I don't think it's political. Like some of them are political where, you know, you let this person in. You know, it’s a down year. Let this person in because they're popular, right? They're going to bring people in.

"And you know, for me, I don't think this Naismith Hall of Fame is one that is done in a way that's going to bring somebody in that's just really popular."

She won two Naismith Player of the Year awards for her performances in 1991 and 1992. Accompanied by two ACC Player of the Year awards, and was also named the NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player in 1991. She also won three Olympic gold medals with the USA and two FIBA World Cup gold medals and a bronze medal.

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Dawn Staley was full of praise for Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark

Dawn Staley faced Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark during her collegiate career with the Iowa Hawkeyes. She has a keen eye for talent after coaching for so many years, and she was full of praise for the 2024 WNBA Rookie of the Year.

"I think she's quite incredible, quite an anomaly when it comes to how many eyeballs that she's bringing on the game, and new eyeballs," Staley said. "And the newness of those eyeballs only want her to do well. Only want you to speak very highly of her. Only want you to agree with what they agree with." (Timestamps: 30:02)

"And that's kind of hard when we are critics to everyone that plays the game. We're critics to it. It's a part of our ... the fabric of sports."

Clark is already one of the best players in the WNBA in her second season. She was the first rookie since Candace Parker in 2008, and the fifth in the league's history, to make the All-WNBA First Team.