NEW YORK,Aug. 28, 2018 – Atlanta Dream General Manager Chris Sienko has been
named the 2018 WNBA Basketball Executive of the Year, the WNBA announced today.
Sienko earned the honor in his first year in his position.
Sienko received six of 11 first-place votes and four second-place votes (42
points) from a panel composed of one basketball executive from each WNBA team.
Seattle Storm President and General Manager Alisha Valavanis finished second
with 37 points (five first-place votes). Washington Mystics General Manager and
Head Coach Mike Thibault was third with 10 points.
Executives were awarded five points for a first-place vote, three points for a
second-place vote and one point for a third-place vote. They were not allowed to
vote for themselves.
Before being named the Dream’s general manager in November 2017, Sienko joined
the franchise the previous month as an adviser to assist with hiring a new head
coach. In that role, he was instrumental in the hiring of Nicki Collen. In her
first head coaching position at any level, Collen guided Atlanta to the No. 2
seed in the 2018 WNBA Playoffs. Collen today was named the 2018 WNBA Coach of
the Year.
The Dream will host the Mystics in Game 2 of a best-of-five Semifinals series
tonight at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN2.
In Sienko’s first season with Atlanta, the Dream won 15 of its final 17 games to
finish with a 23-11 record – an 11-game improvement over last season’s 12-22
mark. The 23 victories are the most in franchise history, surpassing the
previous mark of 20 set in 2011 (20-14). The season-ending 15-2 surge featured a
team-record eight-game winning streak.
Since Sienko joined Atlanta in a full-time capacity, the Dream has maintained
and added to a strong core of players that includes 2017 All-Stars Tiffany Hayes
and Elizabeth Williams.
Under his leadership, the additions began in February when the Dream re-signed
five-time All-Star Angel McCoughtry to a multi-year contract and signed former
All-Stars Jessica Breland and Renee Montgomery as unrestricted veteran free
agents. McCoughtry averaged 16.5 points and a career-high 6.0 rebounds per game
this season. Breland registered career bests in rebounds (7.9 rpg) and blocks
(1.91 bpg). Montgomery (10.3 ppg) posted her highest scoring average in six
years.
In July, Atlanta acquired guard Alex Bentley from the Connecticut Sun in
exchange for guard Layshia Clarendon and a second-round pick in the 2019 WNBA
Draft. Bentley played a key role coming off the bench for the Dream, which
posted a 14-2 record after trading for the six-year veteran. Sienko also signed
Hayes to a multi-year extension in August, further solidifying the Dream’s
nucleus.
Sienko is the second winner of the WNBA Basketball Executive of the Year Award.
Last year, Sun General Manager and Head Coach Curt Miller was the inaugural
recipient.
Below are the voting results for the 2018 WNBA Basketball Executive of the Year
Award.
2018 WNBA BASKETBALL EXECUTIVE OF THE YEAR VOTING RESULTS
Executive, Team1st 2nd 3rd Total
Chris Sienko, Atlanta 6 4 — 42
Alisha Valavanis, Seattle 5 3 3 37
Mike Thibault, Washington — 3 1 10
Greg Bibb, Dallas 1 — 1 6
Bill Laimbeer, Las Vegas — 1 3 6
Penny Toler, Los Angeles — 1 — 3
Dan Padover, New York — — 1 1
Jim Pitman, Phoenix — — 1 1
Cheryl Reeve, Minnesota — — 1 1
