Shakeup at top of Portland’s WNBA franchise raises serious questions about expansion team’s future | Bill Oram

Perhaps the Fire is the best moniker for Portland’s WNBA expansion franchise.

Before the franchise has even revealed a color design, what better way to characterize the five-alarm mayhem that is currently taking place?

The franchise, which is set to begin play in ten months, has lost its senior executive less than three weeks before the anticipated release of an official brand identity.

The first employee has left.

The Oregonian/OregonLive was informed by sources that President Inky Son, who was ousted at the beginning of April, has left the team without a leader in its most public and important position.

“We don’t comment on personnel matters as a matter of company policy,” RAJ Sports told The Oregonian/OregonLive.

We are pleased to announce that Inky Son has been appointed Team Presidentpic by @wnbaportland.Twitter: @JazFSTqCT

The surprising dismissal follows what sources have called major growing pains during the expansion team’s difficult rollout.

On Thursday night, she left voice and text messages on her cell phone, but her son did not answer.

It’s difficult to discover examples of teams changing their minds about a crucial role so quickly after hiring someone, and in situations like these, it may be unprecedented: So close to showtime, an expanding team.

Son’s abrupt dismissal casts serious doubt on Portland’s WNBA debut, which has already been perceived as being well behind schedule. The team only started employing support personnel a few weeks ago, and the team still lacks a general manager to make basketball-related choices.

The Toronto Tempo, on the other hand, appointed general manager Monica Wright Rogers in February and unveiled their brand identity nearly eighteen months before basketballs began to bounce. The Toronto Tempo was named as an expansion team four months before Portland.

According to certain reports, it is hoped that the franchise’s misstep would serve as a reminder to siblings Lisa and Alex Bhathal Merage of the risks involved in establishing a WNBA club in Portland and the necessary steps to ensure its success.

The WNBA filed a number of trademarks for the Portland Fire last week, seemingly in an attempt to revive the branding of the WNBA team that played in Portland from 2000 to 2002 and garnered a devoted fan base during its brief existence, even though the team has not yet made its plans for a team name public.

Although Son’s resignation was not immediately linked to the brand launch, the franchise has hinted that it intends to unveil its brand identity on July 15.

For the franchise’s first season, when Portland and Toronto would be the 14th and 15th teams in a league that has skyrocketed in popularity and value, the team announced triumphantly on Thursday that it has received 10,000 season ticket deposits.

“This extraordinary level of community engagement goes beyond casual interest, further cementing Portland’s position as the global epicenter of women’s sports,” said Mike Whitehead, managing director of RAJ Sports, in a statement announcing the development.

Bhathal Merage’s response was also included in the statement. Notably, Son—who joined the expansion team after serving as an NBA Players Association executive for eight years—was neither mentioned or given a statement.

According to reports, Bhathal Merage and her brother Alex, who live in Southern California, have mostly traveled to Portland for Portland Thorns games and launch events, such the inauguration of a shared women’s sports complex in Hillsboro last month.

Several sources expressed worries about the expansion team’s rocky start, citing a lack of relationship between ownership and both women’s basketball and the city of Portland.

Even though the Bhathal siblings control a small portion of the Sacramento Kings, they had no prior involvement in women’s sports before paying $63 million to Merritt Paulson to acquire the NWSL Thorns in early 2024.

Shortly after the collapse of an expansion effort a year earlier that had collapsed at the last minute when ZoomInfo founder Kirk Brown dropped out as the team’s owner, they were presented with the chance to acquire the WNBA’s fifteenth team.

Last September, the Portland and the Bhathals were given the team by the WNBA.

This came after a grassroots initiative spearheaded by U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, who in 2023 organized a forum to court Commissioner Cathy Englebert at The Sports Bra, the first all-women’s sports bar in northeast Portland.

Whitehead’s responsibilities include managing the WNBA team and the Thorns. Whitehead’s lack of experience in women’s sports and the fact that he has not moved to Portland from Sacramento, where he was previously employed by the NBA’s Kings, have raised concerns among those skeptical of Portland’s launch trajectory.

Whitehead said the Georgetown University alumnus would set the foundation for future expansion in a statement announcing Son’s hiring in April.

Son, who emigrated to the United States at the age of eight, was born in Korea and told an interviewer that she couldn’t speak English. She had a powerful presence at the top of the team’s organizational ladder.

Whitehead said in a statement, “We are confident her leadership will drive the franchise to new heights, creating a lasting impact both in Portland and across the WNBA.”

Son served as the NBPA’s chief administrative officer prior to coming to Portland, and he had previously held other positions with the organization. She had a career in fashion before commencing her first position in sports in 2015 with the Major League Baseball Players Association.

In an April statement, Bhathal Merage said, “We are very happy to have Inky join our team.” Inky is the perfect candidate to establish a strong foundation for our franchise and solidify Portland’s position as the world’s center of women’s sports because of her demonstrated ability to alter organizations, strategic thinking, and enthusiasm for our vision.

They are currently searching for someone to replace her.

–Bill Oramis, The Oregonian/OregonLive’s sports columnist.

Stories by

Bill Oram

• By drafting Chinese Jokic , Trail Blazers GM proves he is either a genius or a madman | Bill Oram

• Jrue Holiday is old, expensive and maybe exactly what the Trail Blazers need | Bill Oram

• If Portland s WNBA owners had actually involved fans in team name search, here is what they would have learned | Bill Oram

About The Author