WNBA Portland Fire Alex Sarama

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Alex

Sarama

Alex Sarama

Welcome to the Fire Pit: Portland embraces its reborn WNBA team

The fact Portland has shown up for its new WNBA team is, in many ways, unsurprising given the city’s long history of embracing women’s sports.

Associated Press,

Associated Press,

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Alex Sarama

PDX Head Coach

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The Portland Fire announced Alex Sarama as the franchise’s first head coach.

The Fire are one of two teams that will enter the WNBA next season, and the franchise has gone to the NBA ranks to find its first head coach. Sarama most recently served as an assistant on Kenny Atkinson’s staff in Cleveland, helping lead the Cavaliers to 64 regular-season wins and a second-round playoff appearance in 2024-25. His focus as an assistant coach at multiple stops has been on player development, which can be helpful for a franchise that will build its roster from scratch, starting with the expansion draft (if the WNBPA and the league’s owners agree to a new collective bargaining agreement).