Alex Sarama, Cavs Assistant, Will Lead New WNBA Fire Team

Alex Sarama, new coach of the Portland Fire

The Portland Fire, a WNBA expansion team, has hired Alex Sarama, assistant coach for the Cleveland Cavaliers, as their inaugural head coach. This was announced by the team and Sarama himself. Sarama is recognized as an authority on an innovative training system that has gained popularity in European basketball, soccer, and, increasingly, in the NBA. Players like Victor Wembanyama of the San Antonio Spurs and coaches like Kenny Atkinson of the Cavaliers are fervent followers of this method.

Having the opportunity to implement the principles of CLA (Constraint-Led Approach) with an expansion team is ideal. We will be able to hire people who fit the new system without having to unlearn a previous system.

Alex Sarama

Sarama explained that this approach allows her to impact each department and create a unified environment where everyone works in harmony. The team’s general manager, Vanja Černivec, shares this vision and highlights the importance of starting from scratch to implement new strategies. Černivec, who comes from the Golden State Valkyries, where she was vice president of basketball operations, has a deep knowledge of the European market. She met Sarama years ago at the NBA office in Madrid, being impressed by his intellect and passion for coaching.

For me, he was a genius. He produced documents and work that took me two hours, he did them in five or ten minutes. I wondered how this guy’s brain worked. His obsession was always training.

Vanja Černivec

In addition to his academy, Sarama had successful experiences as a coach with the London Lions, Paris Basketball, and RipCity Remix. His fame grew after the publication of his bestselling book, “Transforming Basketball”, in 2024. Atkinson, who read the book, brought him in as a player development coach for the Cavaliers. The CLA is a training methodology that emphasizes adaptability, improvisation, and decision-making, rather than predetermined patterns and exercises. Sarama rarely repeats the same exercise, using games with different constraints to force players to make decisions under pressure. Sarama commented that the players love this approach, as it offers a refreshing change compared to what they are used to in their NBA careers. He considers it more attractive and creative, which resonates positively with the players. Hiring NBA coaches is becoming increasingly common in the WNBA, especially after the success of the Phoenix Mercury and the Golden State Valkyries. Sarama and the Cavaliers are discussing when she will leave Cleveland to start full-time in Portland. The WNBA’s collective bargaining agreement expires on October 31, and it is still unknown how the negotiations will affect the expansion draft and free agency. For now, she will remain in Cleveland, but hopes to start soon in Portland, where the team will begin its participation in May 2026.