Newest WNBA franchise hires Black GM

Sports Odds and Ends

There were three Black WNBA general managers in 2022 and only two in 2023. The situation is the same this season: Darius Taylor in Connecticut and Natalie Williams in Las Vegas. Natalie Williams was the only person of color to have a general manager position during the 2023 season.

According to The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport (TIDES), only once (2012) did the WNBA reach its all-time high (five) in Black GMs.

Unless it changes, Black GMs will increase by at least one in 2025—the new Golden State franchise that begins play next season hired Ohemaa Nyanin as its first general manager earlier this month. 

“Of course, you look for IQ and intelligence, very important in this job and this organization, but we also look for someone with basketball knowledge and experience and sort of a gut level understanding of the game,” admitted Joe Lacob on the hiring process. According to him, they “interviewed with a lot of people” before hiring Nyanin, said Lacob, who is the NBA’s Golden State Warriors co-executive chairman and CEO. 

Nyanin worked for New York Liberty for five years, starting as a basketball operations manager and then as a director before becoming assistant general manager in 2022. She also worked with USA Basketball (assistant director of the women’s national team) and was a qualifier technical delegate and manager at the FIBA Americas World Cup. She also earned both her B.A. and master’s degrees from American University, where she also played basketball (2005-10).

“The investment that has already been committed to building an incredible WNBA franchise is nothing short of amazing,” said Nyanin in her May 6 introductory press conference. “I’m just really excited to collaborate with the current and future incredible minds to build a winning culture, which Joe just laid out.”

Among her duties is hiring the team’s first head coach. Nyanin stressed, “We talked a lot about the community…and I’m really excited to learn the stories of the people who have pioneered in this area and want to continue to help this organization grow.

“We are going to build a locker room and family that players would like to be a part of and champion for all youth in the Bay Area and globally,” she said.

“I just think it’s a testament to my work ethic,” said Nyanin, who was born in Ghana. “It’s a testament to my village, the people that I’ve worked with in the past that have accelerated my progress.

“I’m just super excited to, first and foremost, hire a coach.” 

Finally, Nyanin is excited to still be a part of the W, a league that many say is the hardest to make a roster as a player. With Golden State starting next season, and Toronto in 2026, the WNBA will have at least 24 more roster spots and become a 14-team league. She is also proud to be in a key leadership role of a new franchise.

“The league has existed for going on 28-plus years now, and there are people who have invested to get it to where it is now, and now there are new people who are continuing to help it grow,” she concluded. “I think, for me, it’s a combination of all the collaboration that has happened.”