Karen Bryant (born August 24, 1967) is a

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

executive. She last served as the Chief Administrative Officer and General Manager of the

Los Angeles Sparks The Los Angeles Sparks are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Sparks compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Western Conference. The team plays its home games at Crypto.co ...

of the WNBA. Bryant started her professional sports career in the American Basketball League from 1996 to 1998. Bryant started out as the director of basketball operations for the

Seattle Reign Seattle Reign FC is an American professional soccer team based in Seattle, Washington, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Founded in 2012, it is one of eight inaugural members of the NWSL. Since June 2024, the Reign ar ...

in 1996 before being named general manager in 1998. After the ABL closed in 1998, Bryant joined the WNBA as part of the newly formed

Seattle Storm The Seattle Storm are an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The Storm compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Western Conference (WNBA), Western Conference. The team was founded by Gi ...

in 1999. With the Storm, Bryant held multiple executive positions between 1999 and 2014. Her executive roles with the Storm included chief operating officer from 2003 to 2008 and chief executive officer between 2008 and 2014.

Early life and education

In the late 1960s, Bryant was born in

Edmonds, Washington Edmonds is a city in Snohomish County, Washington, United States. It is located in the southwest corner of the county, facing Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains to the west. The city is part of the Seattle metropolitan area and is located ...

. As a child, Bryant played

wiffle ball Wiffle ball is a scaled back variation of baseball that was developed in 1953 in Fairfield, Connecticut. Originally, it was intended to be played in confined space or otherwise small area, but became a popular outdoor activity. The sport is pl ...

and association football before deciding on basketball in elementary school. From the 1980s to 1990s, Bryant continued to play basketball while completing her high school and post-secondary education. Bryant attended

Green River Community College Green River College is a Public college, public community college in Auburn, Washington, United States. It has a student body of over 13,000 and has satellite campuses in nearby cities of Kent, Washington, Kent and Enumclaw, Washington. The colle ...

and

Seattle University Seattle University (Seattle U or SU) is a private Jesuit university in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the largest independent university in the Northwestern United States, with over 7,500 students enrolled in undergraduate and grad ...

for two years each before moving to the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

in 1990. A year later, Bryant received a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

from Washington and specialized in communications.

Career

After completing her post-secondary education, Bryant coached the girls basketball team at

Woodinville High School Woodinville High School is a public secondary school in the northwest United States in Woodinville, Washington, a suburb northeast of Seattle. Serving grades 9 through 12, it educates the eastern portion of the Northshore School District and is a ...

between 1993 and 1996. Bryant then worked in project management before joining the American Basketball League in 1996. While in the ABL, Bryant started out as the director of basketball operations for the

. After becoming an assistant general manager for the Reign, Bryant was named their general manager in February 1998 after Jim Weyermann stepped down from his position. In December 1998, Bryant ended her general manager position with the Reign upon the closure of the ABL. In 1999, Bryant joined the newly formed

in the WNBA as their vice president. She remained as the Storm's vice president until she was named chief operating officer in November 2003. While adding an executive position in communications in 2006, Bryant continued to work as chief operating officer until becoming the Storm's chief executive officer in 2008. Bryant remained as CEO until she left the Storm in 2014 and was replaced by Alisha Valavanis. After ending her basketball position, Bryant switched to football safety after she joined Atavus Sports in 2017 as their chief operating officer. In 2021, Bryant began working in

consulting A consultant (from "to deliberate") is a professional (also known as ''expert'', ''specialist'', see variations of meaning below) who provides advice or services in an area of specialization (generally to medium or large-size corporations). Cons ...

when she helped create

KB2 Sports KB, kB or kb may stand for: Businesses and organizations Banks * KB Kookmin Bank, South Korea * Kaupthing Bank, Iceland * Komerční banka, Czech Republic * Kasikornbank, Thailand * Karafarin Bank, Iran Libraries * National Library of Swed ...

. The following year, Bryant became a co-owner of the

NJ/NY Gotham FC Gotham Football Club is an American professional Association football, soccer team based in the New York metropolitan area that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Founded in 2006 as Jersey Sky Blue, the team was known as Sk ...

. On January 3, 2023, Bryant was named the new Chief Administrative Officer and General Manager of the

in the WNBA. On January 5, 2024, she was replaced by

Raegan Pebley Jennifer Raegan Pebley (née Scott; born August 12, 1975) is an American basketball executive and former coach and player. She is currently the general manager of the Los Angeles Sparks. Pebley has been the head women's coach at three NCAA Divis ...

Personal life

Bryant has one child.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bryant, Karen 1967 births Washington Huskies women's basketball players Women's National Basketball Association executives Living people American LGBTQ sportspeople Women's National Basketball Association general managers