Latest news with #OhemaaNyanin
Yahoo
a day ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
With WNBA expansion adding roster spots, it's time to drop the age restriction
Over the next five years, the WNBA will bring five new teams into the league, and with them, at least 60 new roster spots. The league — long touted as the 'toughest to make' in pro sports — is likely about to get less tough to break into as general managers scour the globe to find these players to fit their rosters. New GMs in Toronto, Portland, Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia might follow the lead of the Golden State Valkyries, who started play this season as the WNBA's first expansion team since 2008. Golden State GM Ohemaa Nyanin took an international approach and filled out her roster with mostly WNBA reserves from the expansion draft and international talent. The result? The Valkyries have overachieved by all standards and could become the first WNBA expansion team to make the playoffs in its first season. Advertisement Other new GMs might tap vets who've been out of the league for a year or two or under-the-radar players who've toiled overseas — players such as Rebekkah Gardner, who went undrafted in 2012 but made her first WNBA roster in 2022, at 31, and is averaging 15 minutes a game for the New York Liberty. Plenty of talent exists, the players union asserts, to fill these spots and keep the WNBA's caliber of play high. But with 60-plus new roster positions, there's another place GMs should be looking: college underclassmen. With robust league expansion, it's necessary to revisit the topic of the WNBA's age restrictions, which are arguably the strictest in American pro sports. As the league and players association are at the negotiating table for the next collective bargaining agreement, which they hope to finalize this winter, the time is now. The W's counterpart of the NBA allows in players just one year removed from high school graduation. The NWSL, the other most successful U.S. women's pro sports league, can sign up to four players who are younger than 18. But the WNBA follows much tighter guidelines. American players must turn 22 the year of the draft, be a college graduate within three months of the draft or be four years removed from high school graduation. International players must be at least 20 during the year of the draft. Advertisement The result is that few women's players even have the opportunity to leave college early. With the exceptions of Jewell Loyd (Notre Dame, 2015), Jackie Young (Notre Dame, 2019) and Satou Sabally (Oregon, 2020), no notable stars have made the jump before the end of their four college hoops seasons. Of course, plenty of college players beyond those three clearly have the physicality and skills to play professionally before turning 22. The age limitations have long protected veterans across the league, but with so many new spots opening in the WNBA before 2030, it's hard to argue that veterans still need that protection. (And if they do, should they really be playing in the toughest league to break into in the world?) There's another side to this, too. The WNBA certainly stands to benefit from the beefed-up talent pool, but would underclassmen want to leave early? As it stands with NIL and collectives (and whatever those become in this post-House settlement era), brand-building and annual salaries of certain college players have exceeded WNBA supermax salaries. But that doesn't inherently mean the college landscape is more financially lucrative to all players or that every player needs four years of college brand building to sustain their partnerships once they go pro, specifically, the most visible college players. Caitlin Clark didn't need a fourth year at Iowa to secure the lucrative deals she has in the WNBA now. The 'she's going to take a pay cut to go pro' crowd has been mostly silenced as her net worth has only gone up. Paige Bueckers really didn't need anything past her freshman year at UConn to ink the kind of high-value deals she has now. Advertisement JuJu Watkins built enough brand awareness in her freshman season at USC that the potential endorsements awaiting her in the WNBA, if she had the opportunity to be one-and-done, wouldn't necessarily equate to her taking a cut. Leaving early would mean she'd lose the money from the collective and the future revenue sharing, but the WNBA just needs to find a way to make up for that money in salary. For players like Watkins, the NIL part isn't going anywhere. These players should be able to make the choice themselves, rather than being up against an arbitrary age limit. Loosening age restrictions and drafting qualified players would be good for individual players, her future team and the league as a whole. With this shift in eligibility, the WNBA — given the tight window between the end of the season, the WNBA Draft and the transfer portal opening/closing — could also grant wider leeway for players who opted to withdraw. Advertisement Player salaries are key points for the WNBPA in CBA negotiations, so players should use age restrictions as a potential bargaining chip. It's particularly salient of late as teams have seen what a boon Clark has been to the Indiana Fever's bottom line (as well as the league and Indianapolis). Knowing what Clark's entry could've meant to stakeholders — if she had been able to come even a year earlier — is significant. Fever coach Stephanie White doesn't take a stance about amending age restriction rules. But she said it should be up for discussion — and the Fever's bottom line backs that up. 'Certainly, our ability to draft younger players — European players — is there,' White said. 'Everything is on the table right now in terms of conversation. In terms of what are the best solutions? I'm not sure.' Imagine the power this could have for player salaries at the negotiating table: You want the potential to draft Watkins sooner rather than later? Great. Then owners had better ante up for rookie salaries, and benefits that are better than what USC's collective can pay her outside of her brand endorsements. You want to cash in on LSU star Flau'jae Johnson's skill, spark and fan appeal? We get it. But you had better be ready to pay her what she'd be worth to the league. Advertisement Even the potential of landing Watkins or Johnson or the next women's basketball star could potentially increase salaries for all players in the league. Dropping the age restriction or using a rule similar to the NBA doesn't mean every eligible 19-year-old will enter the draft (if someone does, and goes undrafted, that's their choice). With roster limits at 12, even with an expanded league, many teams can't be as patient with young prospects as the NBA can with larger rosters and its developmental G-League. But changing the age restriction gives the option to rising sophomores and underclassmen who are good enough to make it in the W, and that seems like a win-win for players and the league as long as all parties are informed and aware of the risks. As the WNBA has existed in the past, the idea of encouraging a 19-year-old to opt for a league with limited roster spots, abundant cuts and a low salary seems unwise with the lucrative college landscape as an alternative. But as the WNBA expands, the choice should become harder. With 210-plus spots, if a rookie can make a better entry salary, further her own skills and boost a league on the rise — largely due to recent young stars — then it's the right move for all. In the 2021 NWSL season, when Olivia Moultrie was 15 and training with the Portland Thorns but ineligible to play because the age restriction was 18, she filed an antitrust lawsuit against the league. She reached a settlement with the NWSL, opening the door for her and others under 18 to join the league. Advertisement Two years later, when the Thorns won the title in 2023 and she got her turn at the mic during the team's celebration, she said: 'All I can say is, going to court was worth it to play here.' She was 17 at the time. Without her lawsuit, she would've been ineligible to earn her salary or be a part of that team. Instead, the midfielder who started eight games that season for the Thorns was living her dream, helping them win a title and boosting a league that was growing significantly. The WNBA shouldn't wait for a lawsuit like Moultrie's to open its doors to more young talent, especially when it is laying the red carpet out for more teams (and more roster spots). Not every teenager will enter the WNBA Draft, but for the ones who are good enough, they shouldn't have to wait and neither should the league. This article originally appeared in The Athletic. Advertisement Minnesota Lynx, New York Liberty, Seattle Storm, Los Angeles Sparks, Washington Mystics, Atlanta Dream, Chicago Sky, Connecticut Sun, Indiana Fever, Dallas Wings, Las Vegas Aces, Phoenix Mercury, Golden State Valkyries, WNBA, Sports Business, Women's College Basketball, Opinion 2025 The Athletic Media Company
New York Times
a day ago
- Sport
- New York Times
With WNBA expansion adding roster spots, it's time to drop the age restriction
Over the next five years, the WNBA will bring five new teams into the league, and with them, at least 60 new roster spots. The league — long touted as the 'toughest to make' in pro sports — is likely about to get less tough to break into as general managers scour the globe to find these players to fit their rosters. Advertisement New GMs in Toronto, Portland, Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia might follow the lead of the Golden State Valkyries, who started play this season as the WNBA's first expansion team since 2008. Golden State GM Ohemaa Nyanin took an international approach and filled out her roster with mostly WNBA reserves from the expansion draft and international talent. The result? The Valkyries have overachieved by all standards and could become the first WNBA expansion team to make the playoffs in its first season. Other new GMs might tap vets who've been out of the league for a year or two or under-the-radar players who've toiled overseas — players such as Rebekkah Gardner, who went undrafted in 2012 but made her first WNBA roster in 2022, at 31, and is averaging 15 minutes a game for the New York Liberty. Plenty of talent exists, the players union asserts, to fill these spots and keep the WNBA's caliber of play high. But with 60-plus new roster positions, there's another place GMs should be looking: college underclassmen. With robust league expansion, it's necessary to revisit the topic of the WNBA's age restrictions, which are arguably the strictest in American pro sports. As the league and players association are at the negotiating table for the next collective bargaining agreement, which they hope to finalize this winter, the time is now. 🚨HISTORIC MOMENT ALERT🚨 The W is leveling UP — three new teams, three new cities, one unstoppable future. ⭐ Say hello to our newest expansion teams: 🟣 @clevelandwnba – coming 2028 🔵 @DetroitWNBA – coming 2029 🔴 @philawnba – coming 2030 New energy. New legacies. New era.… — WNBA (@WNBA) June 30, 2025 The W's counterpart of the NBA allows in players just one year removed from high school graduation. The NWSL, the other most successful U.S. women's pro sports league, can sign up to four players who are younger than 18. But the WNBA follows much tighter guidelines. American players must turn 22 the year of the draft, be a college graduate within three months of the draft or be four years removed from high school graduation. International players must be at least 20 during the year of the draft. Advertisement The result is that few women's players even have the opportunity to leave college early. With the exceptions of Jewell Loyd (Notre Dame, 2015), Jackie Young (Notre Dame, 2019) and Satou Sabally (Oregon, 2020), no notable stars have made the jump before the end of their four college hoops seasons. Of course, plenty of college players beyond those three clearly have the physicality and skills to play professionally before turning 22. The age limitations have long protected veterans across the league, but with so many new spots opening in the WNBA before 2030, it's hard to argue that veterans still need that protection. (And if they do, should they really be playing in the toughest league to break into in the world?) There's another side to this, too. The WNBA certainly stands to benefit from the beefed-up talent pool, but would underclassmen want to leave early? As it stands with NIL and collectives (and whatever those become in this post-House settlement era), brand-building and annual salaries of certain college players have exceeded WNBA supermax salaries. But that doesn't inherently mean the college landscape is more financially lucrative to all players or that every player needs four years of college brand building to sustain their partnerships once they go pro, specifically, the most visible college players. Caitlin Clark didn't need a fourth year at Iowa to secure the lucrative deals she has in the WNBA now. The 'she's going to take a pay cut to go pro' crowd has been mostly silenced as her net worth has only gone up. Paige Bueckers really didn't need anything past her freshman year at UConn to ink the kind of high-value deals she has now. JuJu Watkins built enough brand awareness in her freshman season at USC that the potential endorsements awaiting her in the WNBA, if she had the opportunity to be one-and-done, wouldn't necessarily equate to her taking a cut. Leaving early would mean she'd lose the money from the collective and the future revenue sharing, but the WNBA just needs to find a way to make up for that money in salary. For players like Watkins, the NIL part isn't going anywhere. . @USCWBB sophomore superstar and last year's NCAA Freshman of the Year, @Jujubballin, shares her opinion of the WNBA's age limit/early entry rules. Full interview: — Sarah Spain (@SarahSpain) December 18, 2024 These players should be able to make the choice themselves, rather than being up against an arbitrary age limit. Loosening age restrictions and drafting qualified players would be good for individual players, her future team and the league as a whole. With this shift in eligibility, the WNBA — given the tight window between the end of the season, the WNBA Draft and the transfer portal opening/closing — could also grant wider leeway for players who opted to withdraw. Advertisement Player salaries are key points for the WNBPA in CBA negotiations, so players should use age restrictions as a potential bargaining chip. It's particularly salient of late as teams have seen what a boon Clark has been to the Indiana Fever's bottom line (as well as the league and Indianapolis). Knowing what Clark's entry could've meant to stakeholders — if she had been able to come even a year earlier — is significant. Fever coach Stephanie White doesn't take a stance about amending age restriction rules. But she said it should be up for discussion — and the Fever's bottom line backs that up. 'Certainly, our ability to draft younger players — European players — is there,' White said. 'Everything is on the table right now in terms of conversation. In terms of what are the best solutions? I'm not sure.' Imagine the power this could have for player salaries at the negotiating table: You want the potential to draft Watkins sooner rather than later? Great. Then owners had better ante up for rookie salaries, and benefits that are better than what USC's collective can pay her outside of her brand endorsements. You want to cash in on LSU star Flau'jae Johnson's skill, spark and fan appeal? We get it. But you had better be ready to pay her what she'd be worth to the league. Even the potential of landing Watkins or Johnson or the next women's basketball star could potentially increase salaries for all players in the league. Dropping the age restriction or using a rule similar to the NBA doesn't mean every eligible 19-year-old will enter the draft (if someone does, and goes undrafted, that's their choice). With roster limits at 12, even with an expanded league, many teams can't be as patient with young prospects as the NBA can with larger rosters and its developmental G-League. But changing the age restriction gives the option to rising sophomores and underclassmen who are good enough to make it in the W, and that seems like a win-win for players and the league as long as all parties are informed and aware of the risks. As the WNBA has existed in the past, the idea of encouraging a 19-year-old to opt for a league with limited roster spots, abundant cuts and a low salary seems unwise with the lucrative college landscape as an alternative. But as the WNBA expands, the choice should become harder. With 210-plus spots, if a rookie can make a better entry salary, further her own skills and boost a league on the rise — largely due to recent young stars — then it's the right move for all. Advertisement In the 2021 NWSL season, when Olivia Moultrie was 15 and training with the Portland Thorns but ineligible to play because the age restriction was 18, she filed an antitrust lawsuit against the league. She reached a settlement with the NWSL, opening the door for her and others under 18 to join the league. Two years later, when the Thorns won the title in 2023 and she got her turn at the mic during the team's celebration, she said: 'All I can say is, going to court was worth it to play here.' She was 17 at the time. Without her lawsuit, she would've been ineligible to earn her salary or be a part of that team. Instead, the midfielder who started eight games that season for the Thorns was living her dream, helping them win a title and boosting a league that was growing significantly. The WNBA shouldn't wait for a lawsuit like Moultrie's to open its doors to more young talent, especially when it is laying the red carpet out for more teams (and more roster spots). Not every teenager will enter the WNBA Draft, but for the ones who are good enough, they shouldn't have to wait and neither should the league. (Photo of JuJu Watkins: Andy Lyons / Getty Images)
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
How competitive can the Valkyries be this WNBA season?
On Wednesday, the Golden State Valkyries — the WNBA's first expansion team since 2008 — will take to the court for the first time when they face the Los Angeles Sparks at Chase Center in their first preseason game. On the latest episode of 'No Offseason,' Zena Keita, Ben Pickman and Sabreena Merchant discussed what success might look like for the Valkyries' inaugural season. Advertisement Watch the full discussion below. Keita: Natalie Nakase (the Valkyries head coach) was very big on keeping things open-minded, and she didn't want people to come into this space and think, I did it like this in New York. I did like this in Atlanta, or I didn't like this in Las Vegas. She wanted something that was brand new, and I thought that was really cool to see. Now we've got to talk big picture because this year is about setting a foundation, having fun, and there was lots of talk about joy today as well. So what does success look like for the Golden State Valkyries in their first season, Ben? Pickman: I'm going to steal the phrase that Jonathan Kolb, the New York Liberty GM, used over the weekend. And I cite him as a specific example because Ohemaa Nyanin, the GM of the Valkyries, used to be the assistant GM of the Liberty, so there is some connectivity there. What Jonathan said, and I think he put it really well, is that, this year's Valkyries team is trying to find out who is going to be on the first great Valkyries team. So it's not necessarily about this year, it's about trying to see who's going to be a part of their long-term plan and what kind of player is going to be a part of their long-term plan, whether that is a specific name or a specific style of player. So it's very much an experimental year, and the expectation from talking to people around the league is that this Valkyries team is going to be pretty competitive in games. There are some questions about whether they have a 20-point scorer on the roster. Or how they're going to close games at crunch time and what that's going to look like. Because those are some things where continuity makes a difference. But I do think they are going to compete even though they might come up short in a bunch of games because they're just not as talented yet as a bunch of other teams. Advertisement But again, it's about finding who those next great players are. And you've got to think there are two looming things out there. Number one is that in the WNBA, unlike in the NBA, draft lottery odds are normally based on your two-year cumulative record. But because the Valkyries are going to have just one year of history, presumably this year is going to be the end-all be-all in determining where they fare in the 2026 WNBA Draft lottery. The other thing is that they're going to have a ton of cap space next year. And so again, if you find a player or two, or three, that will be part of this team going forward, I think that's a success. And if you maybe get a high draft pick heading into next year, that's also a success. Then you can market yourself to free agents, which they certainly can do. Zena, you were just there and saw they have a great world-class facility that's just for them. So their franchise is investing, and there's a lot to like even if they only win 12 games this year or something like that. Merchant: It's so interesting when you think about building a team from scratch because I'm certain the way we see Toronto and Portland do it next year is going to look entirely different from what Golden State did. Nakase said that they prioritized ultra competitiveness and high character in terms of the kind of people they wanted in the building. And that resulted in them getting players who had a bit of a longer track record in the W. There are a lot of veterans who have really high references from people around the league. You look at Kayla Thornton; she was beloved in New York and Dallas, and just a quality teammate who they were very sad to lose in the expansion draft. You look at Tiffany Hayes and how highly people spoke of her in Las Vegas and Atlanta, and just what she's meant to the franchises she's played for before Golden State. Even someone like Kate Martin was spoken so highly of in Vegas. And again, the fact that Natalie Nakase came from Vegas and they have multiple Vegas players shouldn't come as a surprise. Even Iliana Rupert, another player taken in the expansion draft, played in Vegas with Nakase. So even though these players don't have any familiarity playing with each other in this specific context, they do have little tentacles attached to one another in previous lives. Hayes, Martin and Rupert, who I don't think will be reporting until after EuroBasket this season, all played for Nakase in Las Vegas. You also look at their assistant GM Vanja Černivec, she has experience with the London Lions, and Temi Fágbénlé also played with the London Lions. So everybody knows everybody in women's basketball, and they all have reasons to believe that these things are going to fit together. It is interesting that they chose a lot of complementary players who people are going to want to play with, because they haven't found the star that wants to play with all of them yet. But these complementary players are going to come to work every day, set a good culture, show up for their younger teammates and express what it means to be a pro at this level. Even if Golden State doesn't really know what their team specifically looks like, they have a bunch of pros who know how to play in the WNBA. And that's important when you have a team where there is no history, and you have to make sure that you set a standard of work and a work ethic to make it a destination that people want to come to. The players had nothing to look forward to when they signed in 2025. So this year is about just setting the blueprint for what they want to be in future years. This article originally appeared in The Athletic. Golden State Valkyries, WNBA, No Offseason Podcast 2025 The Athletic Media Company
New York Times
06-05-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
How competitive can the Valkyries be this WNBA season?
On Wednesday, the Golden State Valkyries — the WNBA's first expansion team since 2008 — will take to the court for the first time when they face the Los Angeles Sparks at Chase Center in their first preseason game. On the latest episode of 'No Offseason,' Zena Keita, Ben Pickman and Sabreena Merchant discussed what success might look like for the Valkyries' inaugural season. Watch the full discussion below. A partial transcript has been edited for clarity and length. The full episode is available on the 'No Offseason' feed on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Keita: Natalie Nakase (the Valkyries head coach) was very big on keeping things open-minded, and she didn't want people to come into this space and think, I did it like this in New York. I did like this in Atlanta, or I didn't like this in Las Vegas. She wanted something that was brand new, and I thought that was really cool to see. Now we've got to talk big picture because this year is about setting a foundation, having fun, and there was lots of talk about joy today as well. So what does success look like for the Golden State Valkyries in their first season, Ben? Pickman: I'm going to steal the phrase that Jonathan Kolb, the New York Liberty GM, used over the weekend. And I cite him as a specific example because Ohemaa Nyanin, the GM of the Valkyries, used to be the assistant GM of the Liberty, so there is some connectivity there. What Jonathan said, and I think he put it really well, is that, this year's Valkyries team is trying to find out who is going to be on the first great Valkyries team. So it's not necessarily about this year, it's about trying to see who's going to be a part of their long-term plan and what kind of player is going to be a part of their long-term plan, whether that is a specific name or a specific style of player. So it's very much an experimental year, and the expectation from talking to people around the league is that this Valkyries team is going to be pretty competitive in games. There are some questions about whether they have a 20-point scorer on the roster. Or how they're going to close games at crunch time and what that's going to look like. Because those are some things where continuity makes a difference. But I do think they are going to compete even though they might come up short in a bunch of games because they're just not as talented yet as a bunch of other teams. But again, it's about finding who those next great players are. And you've got to think there are two looming things out there. Number one is that in the WNBA, unlike in the NBA, draft lottery odds are normally based on your two-year cumulative record. But because the Valkyries are going to have just one year of history, presumably this year is going to be the end-all be-all in determining where they fare in the 2026 WNBA Draft lottery. The other thing is that they're going to have a ton of cap space next year. And so again, if you find a player or two, or three, that will be part of this team going forward, I think that's a success. And if you maybe get a high draft pick heading into next year, that's also a success. Then you can market yourself to free agents, which they certainly can do. Zena, you were just there and saw they have a great world-class facility that's just for them. So their franchise is investing, and there's a lot to like even if they only win 12 games this year or something like that. Merchant: It's so interesting when you think about building a team from scratch because I'm certain the way we see Toronto and Portland do it next year is going to look entirely different from what Golden State did. Nakase said that they prioritized ultra competitiveness and high character in terms of the kind of people they wanted in the building. And that resulted in them getting players who had a bit of a longer track record in the W. There are a lot of veterans who have really high references from people around the league. You look at Kayla Thornton; she was beloved in New York and Dallas, and just a quality teammate who they were very sad to lose in the expansion draft. You look at Tiffany Hayes and how highly people spoke of her in Las Vegas and Atlanta, and just what she's meant to the franchises she's played for before Golden State. Even someone like Kate Martin was spoken so highly of in Vegas. And again, the fact that Natalie Nakase came from Vegas and they have multiple Vegas players shouldn't come as a surprise. Even Iliana Rupert, another player taken in the expansion draft, played in Vegas with Nakase. So even though these players don't have any familiarity playing with each other in this specific context, they do have little tentacles attached to one another in previous lives. Hayes, Martin and Rupert, who I don't think will be reporting until after EuroBasket this season, all played for Nakase in Las Vegas. You also look at their assistant GM Vanja Černivec, she has experience with the London Lions, and Temi Fágbénlé also played with the London Lions. So everybody knows everybody in women's basketball, and they all have reasons to believe that these things are going to fit together. It is interesting that they chose a lot of complementary players who people are going to want to play with, because they haven't found the star that wants to play with all of them yet. But these complementary players are going to come to work every day, set a good culture, show up for their younger teammates and express what it means to be a pro at this level. Even if Golden State doesn't really know what their team specifically looks like, they have a bunch of pros who know how to play in the WNBA. And that's important when you have a team where there is no history, and you have to make sure that you set a standard of work and a work ethic to make it a destination that people want to come to. The players had nothing to look forward to when they signed in 2025. So this year is about just setting the blueprint for what they want to be in future years. You can listen to full episodes of 'No Offseason' for free on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, and watch on YouTube. (Top Photo: Elsa/Getty Images)
Yahoo
28-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
To build a WNBA team from scratch, the Golden State Valkyries looked for people with an ‘entrepreneurial mindset'
Good morning! Blue Origin's flight takes off, married women could be disenfranchised by new legislation, and there's power in starting from scratch in the WNBA. - Fresh start. The 2025 WNBA draft is today, and choosing players for the first time in a collegiate draft will be the Golden State Valkyries, the new expansion team starting play this season. It's one of the only things the Valkyries are doing traditionally. The Bay Area-based team sold 10,000 season tickets—the first team in the league to do so. They signed a multi-year deal with Sephora, including naming rights for the team's Oakland practice center, which will feature Sephora branding and products throughout its courts, locker room, and player lounge. Advertisement It's been both harder and easier to achieve those milestones as a team building from scratch—the first to do so since 2008. Valkyries GM Ohemaa Nyanin has seen the difference between a rebuild and a fresh start in action; she came to the Valkyries from the New York Liberty, an original WNBA franchise that was rescued from a near-death in 2019. "Recreating 'What is Liberty basketball now?' was really hard because people just wanted to see what they knew," she says. "The difference here is we are creating what we want people to know. What is Valkyries basketball? We're taking our sweet time to define that, because once you define it—coming from experience—it's really hard to change it." Golden State Valkyries General Manager Ohemaa Nyanin, left, announces their new head coach Natalie Nakase, formerly a first assistant coach with the 2-time WNBA Champions, the Las Vegas Aces, at Chase Center in San Francisco on Thursday, October 10, 2024. Nakase joined the Aces in February 2022 to help head coach Beck Hammon led their team to back-to-back WNBA championships in 2022 and 2023 as well as the 2022 Commissioner's Cup title. Nakase is the first Asian coach to lead a WNBA team. (Photo by Yalonda M. James/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images) Rather than focusing solely on basketball or business skills in hiring, Nyanin says her top priorities have been finding people with an entrepreneurial mindset and aptitude for problem-solving—although those skills have some overlap with the grit required in sports. "To be an entrepreneur is to create, to either thrive or fail, and regardless of the results, continue," she says. Advertisement On the business side, president Jess Smith has been thinking equally creatively (see: that Sephora deal, plus another new one with United Airlines). Last year, she told me she was thinking about how the team can be bigger than basketball. Before the team had players, it had violet t-shirts and a partnership with the sports media brand Togethxr. Smith was considering a podcast. "What do those moments feel like when our brand is bigger than sport?" Smith said. The Valkyries drafted most of their roster through an expansion draft in December, and with today's collegiate draft (featuring projected No. 1 draft pick Paige Bueckers, who is expected to go to the Dallas Wings) will fill out the team. And they haven't had to build everything from zero—the team has the same owners as the NBA's Golden State Warriors. Nyanin and Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase know what they don't want to replicate: "treating athletes as just athletes," and not full people, is the worst habit they've seen elsewhere, Nyanin says. "We can write our own story now, right?" Nyanin says. "We don't have to inherit anything." Advertisement Emma Hinchliffe The Most Powerful Women Daily newsletter is Fortune's daily briefing for and about the women leading the business world. Today's edition was curated by Nina Ajemian. Subscribe here. This story was originally featured on
