The new Portland Fire is set to begin playing in the WNBA in 2026 , becoming the second franchise in city history after the original Fire shut down back in 2002. The franchise has made multiple moves in preparation, with Vanja Černivec and Ashley Battle recently being hired as the first general manager and vice president of basketball operations, strategy and innovation, respectively.

Now, it has all been confirmed that former Cleveland Cavaliers assistant coach Alex Sarama will be named the Fire’s first head coach, albeit mistakenly. A LinkedIn post on the official Fire account mistakenly shared the news of Sarama’s hiring early on Tuesday morning before being quickly deleted , per Front Office Sports.

Sources have since confirmed that while the contract has not been finalized, th

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