Alex Samara: how a 30-year-old Englishman became an WNBA head coach

Portland Fire are set for their debut season in the WNBA. Their coach has completed an unlikely journey to the top of his sport

As an aspiring basketball coach in his teens and early 20s, Alex Sarama was often met with snickers when he talked about the game he loved. For the British-born Sarama, who on 28 October was named the head coach of the WNBA's newest expansion team, the Portland Fire, people doubted him before he even put two sentences together.

There was a lot of skepticism," he tells the Guardian. A lot of coaches heard the accent and they'd say straight away this Alex guy can't coach!"