The Portland Fire hired Alex Sarama as the franchise鈥檚 first head coach Friday.
Sarama is currently an assistant coach for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Fire, who begin play next season, had leaked the hire a few days earlier on one of their social media pages.
鈥淎lex represents the next generation of coaching,鈥� Fire general manager Vanja 膶ernivec said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 not just teaching the game, he鈥檚 transforming it. His approach to player development, grounded in evidence-based science, research and creativity, aligns with our vision to make Portland a global hub for innovation in women鈥檚 sports.鈥�
Sarama worked with 膶ernivec at the NBA Europe office in Madrid many years ago. The two also worked together at the London Lions women in the British Basketball League.
鈥淭he opportunity to build something from the ground up is unique,鈥� Sarama said. 鈥淎t the Fire, we鈥檙e not just creating a team 鈥� we鈥檙e redefining how the game is taught and played, through an approach centered around adaptability and supported by evidence-informed methodologies. We want to create a new standard for the game.鈥�
Sarama joins Portland after serving as an assistant and director of player development for the Cavaliers.
Sarama is one of the proponents of the Constraints-Led Approach, or CLA training philosophy. San Antonio鈥檚 Victor Wembanyama and Kelsey Plum are among those who have embraced the method, which eschews repetitive isolated drills and instead encourages creativity and problem-solving by manipulating constraints, including things like rules and time limits.
Sarama wrote about many of the CLA principles in his book, 鈥淭ransforming Basketball,鈥� published in 2024.
Sarama was the director of player development for the Rip City Remix, the Portland Trail Blazers鈥� NBA G League team, for its inaugural season in 2023-24 before joining the Cavaliers.
Earlier this week, the Fire named Ashley Battle as the team鈥檚 vice president of basketball operations, strategy and innovation.
Battle, a former star at UConn, comes to the Fire from the Maine Celtics, the Boston Celtics鈥� G League affiliate, where she was assistant general manager.
Battle also served as a scout for the Celtics and spent the last three seasons as part of the broadcast team for the WNBA鈥檚 Connecticut Sun.