Professional women’s basketball is returning to Oregon next year after more than two decades — and the Portland Fire are building toward their premiere with announcements of more than 15,000 season ticket deposits and the team’s head coach.
The franchise is returning to the court for the 2026 WNBA season with Alex Sarama, a WNBA newcomer, as head coach. The first iteration of the Fire folded in 2002, foreshadowing a period of contraction in the mid-2000s for what was then a young pro women’s league. Nearly a quarter century later, the WNBA is exploding in popularity and expanding from 13 to 18 teams by 2030.
“Portland is an incredible city, and it deserves an incredible WNBA team,” Sarama said during a press conference in Portland Tuesday. “Myself and my entire staff will be working tirelessly to create a product on the floor that you will be proud to support.”
Sarama is from Guildford, England. He worked in professional men’s and women’s basketball in Europe before spending the 2023-2024 season with the Rip City Remix, the development team for the Portland Trail Blazers. Sarama is currently an assistant coach for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Portland Fire general manager Vanja Černivec said the Fire picked Sarama because he has a track record of creating intelligent decision makers among both his players and coaching staff.
“It was very important to us that we bring someone in that will be able to develop and grow with the organization,” Černivec said. “Someone that will come in very humble, and not think they have all the answers. As an expansion team right now we operate in the environment where we have more questions than answers — therefore, a coach that is comfortable operating in the unknown.”
Sarama, Černivec and the Fire staff are working to put the team together during some public growing pains for the WNBA.
Player and fan criticism around officiating and pay for the athletes had been growing for years. But both issues hit a fever pitch during the recent 2025 season.
In July, athletes showed up to the All-Star game wearing warm-up shirts that read “Pay Us What You Owe Us.” It came as the WNBA players’ union and league leadership disagreed on how the WNBA should share its increasing revenue with players.
Then, in September, the runner-up for Most Valuable Player, Napheesa Collier, accused WNBA leadership of allowing poor officiating and putting players’ health at risk. Her comments came after a season riddled with injuries to star players, including Collier and second-year phenomenon Caitlin Clark.
WNBA Commissioner Cathy Englebert responded in a public statement that she was “disheartened” by Collier’s comments and affirmed her commitment to players.
Still, these issues have slowed down approval of a new collective bargaining agreement between the players and the league. In turn, that’s stalled nailing down details of an expansion draft, necessary for the brand new Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo to build their rosters of players ahead of the 2026 season.
Černivec said the Fire staff are “patiently waiting” for answers about rules related to the expansion draft and what the new collective bargaining agreement will hold. She said until then, she and Sarama will work to create a culture that attracts versatile players.
“I really want to make sure we are developing adaptable, resilient athletes,” Sarama said. “And hopefully that will lead to a reduction in injuries, and having a healthier roster is a key part of it. And then the culture, another key piece. Of course, yes, we want to win, but I want to make sure that it is a transformational culture.”
Sarama said that means building an atmosphere where players and staff feel encouraged to share ideas.
“If we want to be on the cutting edge of innovation and have the staff come with brilliant ideas every single day, then it needs to be a psychologically safe environment,” he said. “I want this to be one of the best places to work in professional sports.”
But overall, Sarama’s vision for the Portland Fire goes beyond building a healthy culture and roster of players.
“Ultimately,” he said, “I want to lay the foundation for winning a championship.”
This story comes to you from the Northwest News Network, a collaboration between public media organizations in Oregon and Washington.
