Ohemaa Nyanin walked into the Barclays Middle for Sport 2 of the WNBA Finals final month as she had performed numerous instances earlier than.
The feelings this time, although, have been totally different.
For the 5 seasons previous to 2024, Nyanin had given her all to the Liberty.
She was normal supervisor Jonathan Kolb’s first rent and began as a supervisor of basketball operations earlier than working her manner as much as assistant GM.
She had watched the Liberty go from averaging fewer than 2,300 followers per recreation in 2019 at Westchester County Middle to promoting out Barclays Middle.
This second and “unreal” expertise was what she had been working for.
Solely now, Nyanin, employed in Could to be the Golden State Valkyries’ first GM, was simply one other scout within the stands.
However a bit of her coronary heart remained in Brooklyn for all of final season.
That’s why it was vital for her to attend one of many Liberty’s Finals video games — a win to tie the collection at 1-1 made the journey again dwelling even sweeter.
However for the ultimate three video games of the best-of-five collection, Nyanin retreated to her San Francisco rental.
She watched Sport 3 and 4 alone. When the Minnesota Lynx pressured a winner-takes-all Sport 5, Valkyries vice chairman of basketball operations Vanja Cernivec invited herself over to Nyanin’s place.
Nonetheless, Nyanin couldn’t disguise her happiness for the Liberty, regardless of having traded in her seafoam threads for Valkyries violet.
She cheered and clapped along with her purple hue manicure glistening within the gentle.
“I kept telling Vanja, ‘I’m so sorry you’re seeing me in my element,’ ” Nyanin recalled.
After Leonie Fiebich picked off a Lynx go with the Liberty up by 5 with 10 seconds left in time beyond regulation, reduction and pleasure began to settle in for Nyanin.
By the point the ultimate horn rang, a bottle of champagne had been popped and two glasses poured.
“I vividly remember a physical weight being lifted off me,” Nyanin stated. “It was the perfect way to cap my experience with the Liberty.”
Make no mistake about it, leaving the Liberty for the next place at Golden State wasn’t simple for Nyanin.
“Making this decision, it was the hardest decision I’ve made ever,” she stated. “Because I knew what we were going to be able to do [win a championship], and I also wanted this opportunity.”
At instances all through the interview course of, she doubted that she would even be severely thought of.
When she lastly received the supply, she questioned whether or not she may depart the gamers and workers whom she had constructed such tight, trusted relationships with.
She distinctly remembers the day she walked into Kolb’s workplace this spring and informed him the information.
She closed the door, signaling to her then-boss that the dialog they have been about to have was concerning a critical matter.
“I got the job,” she stated, bracing for any potential damaging response.
However Nyanin’s admission was met by an enthusiastic Kolb.
“I knew it! I knew it!” Kolb stated. “Are you excited?”
Joyful tears shaped in Nyanin’s eyes. After all the chance to be a WNBA GM exhilarated her, however there was nonetheless a sliver of doubt whether or not leaving at the moment, for this particular job, was the proper transfer.
Kolb provided his full assist.
“Of course I’m excited,” he informed her. “This is what you wanted. You worked hard for this.”
The 2 franchises labored collectively to assist make the transition extra seamless.
Nyanin tied up just a few unfastened ends with the Liberty so she may hit the bottom operating with the Valkyries Could 13.
“I had to quickly switch my mind to, ‘But I can still set [the Liberty] up for success.’ And success only meant a championship,” Nyanin stated. “And I felt like I did that.”
Months have handed since Nyanin packed up her Brooklyn rental and headed for the West Coast.
From afar, she watched the Liberty earn the highest seed of the playoffs whereas she created a blueprint for Golden State’s success and helped put together the franchise for its inaugural season in 2025.
“[The Liberty] winning was all the validation that I needed,” Nyanin stated. “I didn’t must be on the parade, I didn’t must be type of at any of these very public celebrations. I simply wanted to ensure that they received what they labored so arduous for.
“[The] 2024 season was a tough season for me partly because I was starting a new season but I was very emotionally connected to the Liberty until Oct. 20. When that final buzzer went, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m now only Valkyrie Violet.’ ”
Nyanin met with Kolb after the Liberty gained the franchise’s first title.
They hugged and talked by the journey it took to get there. Nyanin was there for many of it, however now she’s embarking on that course of once more with a brand new crew — solely this time she’ll bear the brunt of the duties.
However after working with Kolb, she is aware of she’s prepared.
“He’s a great person and a peer mentor,” Nyanin stated, “and just to kind of see your people win is always a source of pride for me.”
