If one were to find New York City on a map, it is located approximately 40 degrees north latitude and 73 degrees west longitude.
If one were to find San Francisco on a map, it is located approximately 38 degrees north latitude and 122 degrees west longitude.
If one were to take a car trip from New York City to the San Francisco Bay Area, that trek would last approximately 43 hours – and we are guessing that two-day number is without food, gas or bathroom breaks.
A flight from Gotham to the Bay would last approximately six hours and 10 minutes.
Regardless, such a cross-country journey is not easy whether simply short-term for business or leisure or to take the next step in one’s career as is the case for a noteworthy executive within WNBA circles.
It will be 2025 when the “ascent” of one of the WNBA’s newest teams – the Golden State Valkyries – begins. One of the key figures that will spearhead that Valkyries ascent will be Ohemaa Nyanin who accepted the general manager role with the organization after a stint where she was assistant general manager of the New York Liberty.
On the new role, Nyanin tells Beyond The W she is most looking forward to getting to know who she will be working alongside as well as finding out what the Bay Area is all about.
I’m most looking forward to finding great people to work with and getting to know the community here in the Bay Area.
–Ohemaa Nyanin, Golden State Valkyries general manager
Nyanin joins a Valkyries front office that is beginning to take shape. The announcement of Nyanin as general manager took place in May – the same month as the unveiling of the Valkyries name, colors, insignia and merchandise. Earlier this year, it was revealed that Jess Smith, previously with the NWSL’s Angel City FC, will serve as the team’s president.
Smith, though, had the distinction of already being based on the west coast – as was the case for Valkyries co-owners Joe Lacob and Peter Guber. Nyanin is making a transition to a new place that is a bit more than simply down the street from Barclays Center – and then some. She says that her transition has actually been seamless despite the cross-country distance.
My transition from the Liberty to the Valkyries was very smooth. Jonathan Kolb and Kirk Lacob really provided a flexible and supportive path for me to feel confident in this big change. (I am) really grateful for them and everyone on both staffs for supporting me.
–Ohemaa Nyanin, Golden State Valkyries general manager
Born in Ghana, Nyanin’s journey to this point where she has assumed this particular role has been quite the success story. She has experience playing women’s basketball at American University in Washington, D.C. where she particularly excelled as a rebounder. In both the 2007-08 and 2009-10 seasons, Nyanin was part of Eagles renditions that qualified for the Women’s National Invitation Tournament (NIT).
She also served as Director of Women’s Basketball Operations at American University at 23 years old when she was a graduate student.
After departing from American University, Nyanin took on a role as an Associate Youth Director at Metropolitan Memorial United Methodist Church in Washington as well as various roles within Ashoka – a global civics and social entrepreneurship organization based in northern Virginia.
I believe every moment, both positively and negatively have shaped me to be where I am today.”
–Ohemaa Nyanin, Golden State Valkyries general manager
It was in 2015 when Nyanin began moving back to the women’s basketball side of things. From that year until 2019, she was the Women’s National Team Assistant Director at USA Basketball. Nyanin’s international basketball experience has also included spending the last eight years as FIBA Americas World Cup Qualifier Technical Delegate and Manager.
That experience at Team USA would prepare Nyanin for her next role – where she became Director of Basketball Operations at the Liberty. Nyanin first took on that role in 2019 – the same year where Jonathan Kolb became the team’s general manager.
To say that Nyanin and Kolb were coming into the franchise at a tumultuous time is a New York-sized understatement.
It was prior to the 2018 season when James Dolan announced that he was putting the Liberty on the market. Before that season, the franchise had been under the Madison Square Garden umbrella for the entirety of its existence.
The Liberty were displaced from its longtime home venue of MSG, moved to the Westchester County Center for two seasons and began struggling mightily on the court. Prior to the 2019 season, it was announced that Joe and Clara Wu Tsai, owners of the Brooklyn Nets, would purchase the Liberty from Dolan.
Nyanin reflects on how her experience in steering the Liberty out of that rough patch ultimately primed her to take on the primary general manager role she currently assumes with Golden State.
It allows me to keep the adversity that we will face in perspective. The road ahead is unknown in most areas and if we put in the work and keep our vision, values and community at the forefront, there is nothing that we can’t overcome.
–Ohemaa Nyanin, Golden State Valkyries general manager
When the Tsais purchased the Liberty from Dolan prior to the 2019 season, New York played one more season at the Westchester County Center before moving to Barclays Center. The move to Brooklyn was to take place starting with the 2020 season before the pandemic forced the entirety of the season to take place in the Florida bubble at IMG Academy.
Sabrina Ionescu, a Bay Area native, was a much-ballyhooed prospect out of Oregon prior to the 2020 draft which took place virtually because of COVID-19. The Liberty drafted Ionescu first overall that year, but her rookie season was derailed in only her third game wearing New York seafoam, black and copper due to injury.
The season resulted in a very forgetful 2-20 finish for the Liberty.
The Liberty started play in Brooklyn the following year while also navigating through New York City’s strict pandemic policies regarding attendance at the time. The Liberty qualified for the playoffs in 2021. Before the 2022 season, Nyanin was promoted from Director of Basketball Operations to Assistant General Manager and New York qualified for the postseason once again.
The 2022 season was also the first that Sandy Brondello became head coach following a stint with the Phoenix Mercury where she coached the Mercury to a championship in 2014.
Nyanin reflects on her time working alongside Kolb and learned plenty of valuable lessons from being in the Liberty front office. One of those being how Kolb would take time to getting to know those that were also in said front office.
One of the things that he did was invest in getting to know the staff, what makes them come to work with joy and focus to accomplish the team goal.
–Ohemaa Nyanin, Golden State Valkyries general manager
Breanna Stewart (New York native two-time WNBA champion with the Seattle Storm), Courtney Vandersloot (WNBA champion with the Chicago Sky) and Jonquel Jones (former WNBA MVP and finalist with the Connecticut Sun) joined the Liberty prior to the 2023 season. Stewart, Vandersloot and Jones joined a Liberty core that already featured Ionescu as well as Betnijah Laney-Hamilton who previously had stints with the Sky, Indiana Fever and Atlanta Dream.
Winning – which was a mainstay of the franchise throughout the bulk of the MSG days – had returned to the Liberty. New York won last season’s Commissioner’s Cup championship and qualified for the Finals but suffered a 3-1 defeat at the hands of A’ja Wilson, Chelsea Gray, Kelsey Plum, Jackie Young and the Las Vegas Aces.
As of this writing, the Liberty currently are the top seed in the WNBA at 21-4. New York returned to the Commissioner’s Cup final but were defeated by a final of 94-89 to the Minnesota Lynx. Not only has New York returned to its winning ways, the Liberty are averaging over 12,000 fans per game (per Across The Timeline) and have been lauded for having, arguably, the best entertainment value of any WNBA franchise.
Nyanin’s work has been instrumental in getting the Liberty back to prominence. She looks back with a great sense of pride that what she has done in the WNBA’s flagship city has led to New York getting back consistently in the win column and hopes that can be duplicated in one of the W’s newest cities.
It’s both gratifying and an immense sense of gratitude for being part of the NY Liberty franchise. I cherish the harder moments more now because of what lies ahead for me on this new journey.
–Ohemaa Nyanin, Golden State Valkyries general manager
When the news of Nyanin being named Valkyries general manager became known in May, Kolb issued a statement – and it was nothing short of a glowing endorsement.
Ohemaa was my first call in 2019 and we have shared an unbreakable bond ever since. To say I’m ecstatic is an understatement. Ohemaa effortlessly threads the needle of being authentic while graceful. She is proof positive that if you put in the work, dreams can come true. I consider myself so grateful to have the opportunity to miss someone so much. The ‘Golden State’ got brighter today. Go shine, O.
–Jonathan Kolb, New York Liberty general manager (press release)
Replicating the same success Nyanin experienced at Atlantic and Flatbush will likely be anything but an overnight project in the Bay Area. While expansion is something that fans typically get excited about, the reality is franchises in their first years usually experience a multitude of growing pains.
When the Dallas Wings were the Detroit Shock, they were 17-13 (fourth in the Eastern Conference) in their inaugural season (1998) – the best-ever showing by a WNBA expansion franchise but still did not qualify for the postseason. That same year was the maiden voyage of the Washington Mystics which finished a dismal 3-27 – dead last in not only the Eastern Conference but the WNBA as a whole.
Prior to the Minnesota Lynx becoming a dynasty in the 2010s, they finished a relatively average 15-17 (fourth in the Western Conference) in their first season which was 1999 (with Brian Agler as head coach). In another life, the Connecticut Sun were the Orlando Miracle and also went 15-17 (fourth place in the Eastern Conference) in their first season which was 1999.
The results in the first season of the Indiana Fever were anything but memorable. The team finished 9-23 in 2000 which was seventh out of eight teams in the Eastern Conference. That year also saw the Seattle Storm join the W and prior to winning four championships with Sue Bird, the Storm were 6-26 (last in the Western Conference).
As for the currently defunct Miami Sol, the team was 13-19 in its first season (sixth in the Eastern Conference) – which was also 2000. The Portland Fire finished sixth out west that year with an overall mark of 9-23.
It was in 2006 when the WNBA expanded to Chicago. The Sky were another case of an expansion team that went through growing pains. That year saw the Sky finish 5-29 – last in the Eastern Conference and in the WNBA as a whole. Two seasons later saw the W head south to Atlanta. The Dream also concluded its first season – 2008 – with a not-so-memorable mark of 4-30 (last in the Eastern Conference and in the WNBA).
Early history may not be on the Valkyries side, but the anticipation for Golden State’s new “women warriors” to take the court is palpable throughout the Bay Area. The team will play its home games at Chase Center in downtown San Francisco, but will have its headquarters and practice facility on the other side of the Bay Bridge in Oakland.
Back in May, the Valkyries announced that they had surpassed 10,000 season ticket deposits and there was a block party featuring notable Bay Area acts E-40 and Kehlani (who also performed at halftime of WNBA All-Star last year). Most recently, the organization announced that Vanja Černivec, who has previous experience with the London Lions and Chicago Bulls, will be the team’s Vice President of Basketball Operations.
At the initial press conference that announced the WNBA expanding to the Bay Area, co-owner Joe Lacob set a goal of five years for a championship to be brought to Northern California. Nyanin says she is prepared for the challenge of building a Valkyries team that can contend for the WNBA’s biggest prize.
I embrace the challenge; the end goal is so clear. We will work every day to achieve the ultimate goal of bringing another championship to the Bay.
–Ohemaa Nyanin, Golden State Valkyries general manager
A key occasion in that process will take place this December when the Valkyries’ expansion draft will happen. In addition, Golden State will also take part in the 2025 WNBA Draft.
There will also be a similar process in 2026 when Toronto’s WNBA team makes its debut. Commissioner Cathy Engelbert has remarked in the past that she wants to get the league to 16 teams by 2028.
Getting back to 16 teams – which is where the W was from 2000-2002 would, without question, be a high watermark for the league. Sixteen is the highest number of teams ever fielded in a single season, but the WNBA was nowhere near as stable then as it is in 2024.
Expansion is one of the several pieces of proof of the WNBA’s growth and Nyanin getting to her new post as general manager of one of the league’s newest teams automatically attaches her name to the ascent of both the Valkyries and the W.
It is very humbling to be amongst the future of the WNBA. As the game evolves, I am so honored to be able to grow the talent and evolve the ecosystem. I don’t take this opportunity lightly and I’m working to build the best example of a successful expansion team.”
–Ohemaa Nyanin, Golden State Valkyries general manager
Of course, when one makes a professional move from one place to another, it is more than about changing jobs. It is also about a change of scenery.
The Tri-State area of New York City and the San Francisco Bay Area are two entirely different places on opposite ends of the continent. Anyone who is a professional understands the challenge that awaits when moving from one place to another – getting used to another area’s culture and how certain things that one may have become used to in one place may not necessarily be available in another area.
One may not have known this before but Nyanin has a passion for the outdoors. There is one particular area of Northern California she is also looking forward to exploring given it aligns with another of her interests.
Exploration, I love to hike and love the water, exploring all the non-tourist areas in due time. I’m also a fan of wine, excited to learn more about it in the Napa/Sonoma regions.”
–Ohemaa Nyanin, Golden State Valkyries general manager
Just as Nyanin is preparing to introduce herself to the Bay Area, The Bay Area is also preparing to introduce itself to Nyanin. While she may be already well-known in Washington, D.C. and New York City circles, this is, in more ways than one, the start of a brand new adventure for the former Liberty and now Valkyries executive.
Away from her day-to-day basketball duties, Nyanin says she wants those who are first getting introduced to her to know that exploration and discovering new things is a huge part of what makes her who she is.
I would love for them to know that I love to travel and learning new cultures. I’ve traveled to over 60 countries. Very excited to get to know all of the Bay Area and not just what’s popular.”
–Ohemaa Nyanin, Golden State Valkyries general manager
With the strides that she has made – particularly within the sports realm that has a reputation for being male-dominated, Nyanin is well-aware of her status as a trailblazing Black woman within the industry.
She fully understands that while her odyssey through law, civic engagement and sports has encountered plenty of twists and turns, Nyanin knows that there are young girls and women that also want to make their own forays into the sports industry at some point.
Nyanin’s message to those young girls and women is to stay the course and be tougher than the tough times.
Regardless of your path, keep striving to reach your goals. Adversity is a lesson in resilience, don’t allow for obstacles to define your path.”
–Ohemaa Nyanin, Golden State Valkyries general manager
