History was made in the Multnomah Athletic Club this morning. Fresh off the heels of the Portland Fire’s hire of head coach Alex Sarama, the expansion franchise’s new leader spoke alongside general manager Vanja Černivec in their first press conference.
The hire of Sarama – officially the youngest head coach in the WNBA at just 30 years old – surprised many, but it did not surprise Černivec: “On the human side [of the coaching search] it was very important to us that we bring in someone who can learn and grow with the organization…On the basketball side, we were looking for someone to bring an evidence-based approach to coaching”. Sarama fit the part: “What impressed us the most is his passion to learn, search for new solutions, and change strategies”.
Certainly, Sarama is a quick learner. Coaching stints in Madrid, Paris, and Portland (with the Blazers’ G-League affiliate Rip City Remix) led to an assistant coach role with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Last season, Sarama embraced the opportunity to learn under the NBA’s reigning Coach of the Year Kenny Atkinson: “Kenny has had a huge inspiration on how I coach, and will continue to do so as I transition into a new role with the Fire. [I admire] how Kenny openly embraces analytics, uses multiple learning theories and practices in player development, to believing in a unified model, with every department working together closely”.
What lessons will the young coach bring to Portland? “Ultimately, I want to lay the foundation for winning a championship. And I want to focus on two areas…number one is the culture and the environment I am going to create around the team, and I really believe in this idea of transformational leadership. I think often at the professional level, culture is a bit of a buzz word that is very vague. We’re going to focus on transforming the values and behaviors every day that allows us to create an environment of psychological safety, and that’s not just for the players, but very importantly for the staff”.
Portland’s new head coach sets a high bar: “I want this to be one of the best places to work in professional sports…I want to prepare the team for where basketball is going, and the future of how I think the game is going to be played”.
Repeatedly, Černivec stressed that her star pupil aligned not only with her values, but the ambitions of Fire owners Alex & Lisa Bhathal and RAJ Sports, explaining that “I truly believe we will be creating something unique, not just in the context of the WNBA, but in the professional sports landscape as well”.
If she’s right, the championship aspirations shared by Černivec, Sarama, Fire ownership, and fans across the world, may someday be realized.
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Matt Bagley is a professional sportswriter and broadcaster with a passion for women’s sports. Outside of work, he cherishes quality time with his birth family, his chosen family, and one very pesky house panther.
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