Warriors CEO Joe Lacob, an accomplished executive selector, was the final step in the process. The final level to decide who will become the basketball head honcho of Golden State’s new WNBA franchise.
But the venture capitalist turned four-time NBA championship owner doesn’t worry about name recognition for this process. He wants stars on the field. But for organizational leadership, he likes to develop stars. And he thinks he found one, snatched from the reception of the New York Liberty.
Ohemaa Nyanin will be hired as general manager to oversee all basketball operations for Golden State’s WNBA team, which is expected to begin play in 2025. She will be introduced Monday at Chase Center.
“Ohemaa really spoke to me,” Lacob said in a telephone interview. “She has a very nice personality, in terms of interacting with people, and especially with me. I really resonated with his life story. She is very bright, very intelligent. I think she speaks four languages. She has lived in several parts of the world. … I think she really, really believes in what she’s doing.
The Bay @WNBA The team has a general manager.
Welcome Ohemaa Nyanin 🏀 pic.twitter.com/GxgfxYh1Sh
– WNBA Golden State (@wnbagoldenstate) May 6, 2024
Over the past decade, Nyanin has spent his time playing basketball behind the scenes. She is proud to play a decisive role in the shadows. Servant leadership, as she calls it.
Now she is in front. The face of a sparkling new front office. She is equipped with the resources and expectations of the Warriors. She arrives in a region fanatical about women’s hoops at a time when the sport is reaching new heights. She manages to build a team under the roof of a modern dynasty. She accepted the championship standard.
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WNBA Bay Area expansion team to debut in 2025
The league announced earlier this year that the Bay Area would receive an expansion team for a 13th WNBA franchise, and in January the team announced Jess Smith — the former chief revenue officer of the Angel City Football Club — as president . The WNBA is eyeing the 2026 season for its 14th team, Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said. She named Philadelphia; Toronto; Portland, Oregon; Denver; Nashville, Tenn.; and South Florida as locations the league is exploring as options. Charlotte, North Carolina, is also under consideration for the next team, sources with knowledge of the league’s plans said. Athleticism.
“I think the clarity of vision is a blessing, to be quite honest,” Nyanin said in a telephone interview. “Pressure is a different kind of blessing, I would say. But what’s really exciting is that Mr. Lacob is an owner who has been in the basketball business for a long time. … So I know he did that by really understanding how to build this winning, sustainable franchise. …So I’m excited. I know the entire organization has both hands and both feet to make sure this is the most successful franchise possible. And I’m just very honored that they see me as someone that can be a part of this team’s growth within the league.
Nyanin spent the last five seasons with the New York Liberty. She quickly rose through the ranks at one of the WNBA’s premier franchises, from director of basketball operations to director and then assistant general manager under Jonathan Kolb, the reigning WNBA Executive of the Year. . Nyanin was instrumental in helping Liberty Land superstars Breanna Stewart, Jonquel Jones and Courtney Vandersloot.
Nyanin also has extensive experience in women’s basketball at the international level. Before joining Liberty, she spent five years as the assistant director of USA Basketball’s women’s national team, including the youth teams that help develop future stars. She also served as technical delegate and qualification manager for the FIBA Americas World Cup.
Part of what appealed to the Warriors was Nyanin’s wide reach in the basketball world. She knows the players who are coming through the pipelines as well as the current players who have come through them, which is key to building a roster from scratch. Expertise in women’s football was a priority.
“I think it’s important because she understands who all these young women are,” Lacob said. “Those who will arrive over the next few years, she has met them all. She knows who they all are as people. She has a good sense of who is the right type of person that we would want to support – not only as a player but as a person and culturally for the organization to build on.
What brought Nyanin to the big chair, in the new adventure of one of the NBA’s modern juggernauts, was his own star potential.
The final three candidates spent time with executives from the Warriors and WNBA Golden State, including Lacob. The final decision was made after spending time at Lacob with other integral characters. Lacob wanted to see how they fit in with everyone else. Another priority was identifying a franchise leader who could fit in and contribute to the Warriors culture. For the WNBA franchise, Lacob wants the same on-court environment used by the NBA team – which requires management from the top down, empowering staff at all levels and managing expectations from the top.
This is why the chemical component is important. Lacob is on the WNBA team. SO he must feel good about the person running the franchise. That’s why Nyanin is here. The feeling he had when he chose Bob Myers (an agent at the time) to be the general manager of the Warriors, and Rick Welts to be his team president, and Mark Jackson and Steve Kerr to be his head coach, even though neither had experience as a head coach – that’s the feeling he gets from Nyanin.
“I think there are three key people we need to be successful,” Lacob said. “One is the business side, the president of the team. The general manager, the architect of the team? The third, of course, will be the coach. We need to correct these three people. And look, I have a pretty good track record at this. I don’t always favor the big game or the experience of another team. I tend to go with someone who has it – whatever it is. Maybe it’s an instinctive thing.
(Photo by Ohemaa Nyanin) Michelle Farsi