Liberty Honor Roster's Co-Creator
BROOKLYN—The New York Liberty sent certain members of the Golden State Valkyries home with a well-earned San Francisco treat.
Upon the Valkyries' debut showing at Barclays Center, the Liberty regaled the opponent's general manager Ohemaa Nyanin at halftime of an eventual 95-67 win over the WNBA's newest franchise. Nyanain held the assistant general manager's job in New York for five seasons, helping top man Jonathan Kolb curate the roster that guided the team to its first postseason championship last fall.
Kolb took to the floor at halftime to personally present Nyanin with a championship ring from the title run. Though Nyanin was officially named the Valkyries' original G.M. in May, she lingered among the New Yorkers until the Bay Area came calling at last season's end.
"She's a huge part of this team. She helped Jonathan build this roster," point guard Sabrina Ionescu noted in Tuesday's aftermath. "Ive known her forever. I think everyone here really respects the years she was here and the work she put in. She was with us to start [last] season for a few weeks, or however long it was, she was a part of the players that were here, and she helped with [Breanna Stewart] and [Jonquel Jones] and [Courtney Vandersloot] at the time, being able to come here and have kind of an easy transition, and so she was a part of that championship run."
"Obviously, I think it speaks volume of our organization and how they appreciate every single person that helps and is a part of this championship team, and kind of pays it forward with a championship ring, because that's something she'll have forever."
Nyanin is one of two Valkyries who will have a little something extra to declare once she returns home to the Bay Area, as the Liberty also bestowed former sixth woman Kayla Thornton new jewelry shortly before tip-off. Golden State (2-2) is in town for its first rides against the Liberty, which close out with a rematch on Thursday night in Brooklyn (7 p.m. ET, WWOR)
Under Nyanin's partial watch as Kolb's right hand, the Liberty assembled the championship roster that included the high-profile headliners mentioned by Ionescu as well as sterling complementary talents like Leonie Fiebich, Nyara Sabally, and the injured Betnijah Laney-Hamilton.
Nyanin had to approach her maiden voyage as full-time general manager with a bit of a different mindset, navigating both the veteran lists set forth by her new competition, as well as surveilling the freshman landscape that yielded project pick Juste Jocyte with the fifth selection in April's draft. The early costruction drew the praise of Kolb prior to this season's tip-off.
"I think that she's doing a wonderful job there. It is really surreal to see her in this position and I'm getting chills right now talking about it," Kolb said. "I think they're going about things, in terms of their roster construction, the right way. They're not leaning in like this is the great team. They're figuring out what that great team will be, as they should and I'm really excited to visit there this year and to travel there this year, and I'm excited to watch from afar."
Geoff Magliocchetti is on X @GeoffJMags
Geoff Magliocchetti is a veteran sportswriter who contributes to a variety of sites on the "On SI" network. In addition to the Yankees/Mets, Geoff also covers the New York Knicks, New York Liberty, and New York Giants and has previously written about the New York Jets, Buffalo Bills, Staten Island Yankees, and NASCAR.