The news that the Portland Fire had hired Alex Sarama has the team's head coach was met with both relief (unlike their fellow expansion team the Toronto Tempo, the Fire had been a little quiet in terms of announcing staff hirings and a plan for the team, which will hopefully hold an Expansion Draft later this year) and a little bit of confusion (there are only so many women coaching in the WNBA, and of those women, very few are women of color).
But GM Vanja Cernivec was prepared for both responses, The Oregonian reported this week. Cernivec, who spent the 2025 WNBA season working for the Golden State Valkyries in San Francisco, acknowledged the fact that many hoped the team would name a woman as head coach.
After admitting that she was fully aware of the fact that both the Dallas Wings and the Phoenix Mercury were met with criticism after they hired Chris Koclanes (who was let go by the team at the conclusion of the 2025 season) and Nate Tibbets (who led his team all the way to the Finals this year), Cernivec made her point: Sarama has the vision that the team wants, and that will hopefully carry them as far as they can go.
The Fire also boasts a staff that is primarily female; in addition to Cernivec, the team's governor is Lisa Bhathal Merage, and the team's president is Clare Hamill, who formerly worked for Nike. The Fire also hired former WNBA player Ashley Battle.
"A lot of people in my circles have asked me, ‘Why are you risking this?’" Cernivec continued, "And I just say, ‘Because I so passionately believe this is the right way to go.’ And there is no innovation without risk."
Expansion teams have to know how to take calculated risk
Understanding how to take a calculated risk is baked into the journey of an expansion team in the WNBA. Until the Valkyries joined the league this season, the most recent expansion team was the Atlanta Dream — and the 2008 squad did not come close to enjoying the success that Natalie Nakase crafted in Ballhalla this year.
Though many would have loved the opportunity to celebrate a woman in the role, those who are rooting for the Fire will simply have to sit back and wait and see what Sarama has planned for his first season as head coach. That will include his constraints-led approach, which "takes a holistic and individual approach to learning." The coach designs the environment in which players move and operate, but instead of only giving plays and shouting orders, players will have the opportunity to make their own decisions in real time as they are faced with unpredictable obstacles or other changes in the game.