There was an influx of WNBA coaching hires in the past week, including, of course, the Toronto Tempo hiring former New York Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello. One of Brondello’s former assistants was hired as well — Sonia Raman will be heading across the country to the Seattle Storm, the first pro-league head coaching position for Raman. While Raman has the connection now with Brondello in Toronto, she has another Toronto connection with Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic.
Before Raman spent time
on Brondello’s staff with the Liberty, she worked as an assistant with the NBA’s Memphis Grizzlies. She had three years of overlap with Rajakovic before he was hired by the Toronto Raptors, and Raman only stayed another year herself before heading to New York.
The news of Raman’s hiring was reported last Friday, just hours before the Raptors’ home opener against Milwaukee. Earlier this week, the Storm officially announced that Raman had been hired. While there were reports she had also interviewed for the opening in New York, Raman’s partner lives and works in Seattle, making the move make sense from a personal level.
The Raptors were back home in Toronto Wednesday night, welcoming Kevin Durant and the VanVleet-less Houston Rockets to town. Before the game, Rajakovic was asked about his time working with Sonia Raman in Memphis.
“Very happy for Sonia, congratulations to her for getting that job,” he said. “She definitely earned it, and I am very happy she’s going to Seattle.”
Darko went on to say that Raman was actually the first female coach he had worked with in his career, and he had no idea what to expect from his new coworker at the time. Looking back now, he says he was “so lucky and so happy to have [Raman in Memphis].” Obviously, Raman was his first female coaching colleague, but certainly not his last. When Rajakovic got to Toronto, one of the coaches on his initial staff was former WNBA player Mery Andrade. Andrade is still on the Raptors staff today, and primarily works with the team’s younger and less experienced players on their development.
Rajakovic was thrilled to hear Raman had been hired by the Storm and would be transitioning into a new role as head coach. He praised her as a coach and a leader, saying, “She’s an outstanding person, an outstanding coach, and so smart. I’m very, very happy for her.”
“She made me a better coach and a better man,” he finished, the praise incredibly heartfelt and genuine from Rajakovic, who often has similar kind things to say about everyone from his own assistants to his players and more. As a coach who is known league-wide for his relationship-building, Darko was congratulated by many Memphis Grizzlies players when he was hired by Toronto — Raman seems to be getting that same treatment from her former NBA and WNBA players.
In Seattle, Raman will be tasked with developing one of the WNBA’s best young players — Dominique Malonga. Malonga was the Storm’s return for having to trade Jewell Loyd away between the 2024 and 2025 seasons. Loyd went to Las Vegas and won another championship; the Storm were able to draft Malonga No. 2 overall only after Paige Bueckers.
Malonga had a fantastic rookie season, getting more playing time near the end of the season and into the Storm’s three-game first-round series against the Las Vegas Aces. She played especially well against four-time WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson, leading to a ton of speculation about what year two and beyond will look like. Raman will have a ton to work with as the dynamic Frenchwoman — just 19 years old when she was drafted — continues to develop.
Plus, if she needs any advice going into her first head coaching season, she can just call her former coworker and friend Darko Rajakovic.
