Expansion team WNBA Golden State has officially brought on New York Liberty assistant GM Ohemaa Nyanin as general manager, the team announced in a Monday afternoon statement.
The move marks one of the first major personnel hires for the highly anticipated franchise, set to begin league play in 2025. Nyanin will oversee all basketball operations for the Bay Area addition, including building out the roster, shaping the team, and developing talent.
Nyanin joins team president Jess Smith and senior vice president of marketing and communications Kimberly Veale in the WNBA Golden State front office.
“Ohemaa is the perfect fit to lead our WNBA basketball operations as we prepare for our inaugural season in 2025,” Warriors co-executive chairman and CEO Joe Lacob said in the release. “As we moved through the GM hiring process, it became more apparent each day how impressive and well-versed Ohemaa is in all facets of the business, and as a person.”
Nyanin was with the Liberty for more than five years, most recently serving as the team’s assistant general manager. Prior to that, she spent five years as the assistant director of the women’s national team at USA Basketball, helping to oversee team operations through gold medal wins at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio and the 2018 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup.
“I am truly honored to be chosen as the first general manager of WNBA Golden State,” Nyanin said. “Throughout the interview process, it was clear that bringing a WNBA team to the Bay Area was meticulously thought out and those involved are motivated changemakers who will be proactive in growing the league. I look forward to joining this franchise and building a competitive basketball team that the fans deserve.”
In a July 2023 profile published by The Next, Liberty assistant coach Roneeka Hodges described Nyanin as the New York team’s “Ms. Make-it-Happen.”
“She’s a jack of all trades,” added Hodges, while Liberty GM Jonathan Kolb paid Nyanin a particularly prophetic compliment.
“She needs to be a general manager in this league,” Kolb said. “Full stop, it needs to happen, and that’s her goal.”
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