A man?

A freaking man?!

In a league built on the world-class talents of underpaid female athletes, it was understandable that there would be backlash to the Portland Fire hiring a man with virtually no experience in the women’s game as the franchise’s first head coach.

And it could have been easily avoided.

There are plenty of qualified women already working in the WNBA and beyond who could have credibly stepped into the role.

But this wasn’t some flub. Hiring 30-year-old Cleveland Cavaliers’ assistant Alex Sarama, who was introduced Tuesday in a news conference at the Multnomah Athletic Club, wasn’t a failure to read the room by general manager Vanja Cernivec.

Instead, it was a strategic decision made with full awareness that it could likely open the franchise to criticism.

“Yo

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