Monica wright

Wright Rogers, who spent seven seasons in the league with the Minnesota Lynx and Seattle Storm, is part of the growing rank of former players who have recently landed leadership roles in the front offices of WNBA teams. Wright Rogers always knew she wanted to stay in basketball after her playing days but was not sure in what capacity.

While playing, Wright Rogers spent time on the Players Association Board as the secretary-treasurer, where she got her first real look into front office and league operations and was able to learn from Terri Jackson, currently executive director of the WNBPA. After getting a feel for both the coaching and the sports business sides of the game, Wright Rogers was sure that sports business was where she wanted to be.

In her role as assistant general manager for the Mercury, Wright Rogers serves as a key connector between the front office, players, coaches and business operations staff, assisting with salary cap management, as well as overseeing operations and administration for the team at the practice facility and assisting with both collegiate and professional player evaluation and scouting.

I am interacting with players and the coaching staff, so knowing what to say and what that championship culture looks, feels and sounds like, and being able to consistently bring that into the day-to-day is key. After spending seven seasons in the league experiencing the ups and downs of a WNBA season, Wright Rogers brings a key player perspective to the day-to-day operations of the Mercury.

Monica wright-mccall

Throughout the course of the season, you have to understand you have really high highs and really low lows and knowing how to navigate that and how we keep everyone ticking with that short, tight season with so many games, how do we keep everyone going. Obviously, the staff is going to do what they do, but what are those missing holes that need to be filled throughout the course of the season?

Wright Rogers considers it her responsibility to guide and support the players, not only as WNBA athletes, but in whatever they want to do after their playing careers are over — whether that be in basketball or not. Former WNBA players often receive opportunities to coach — currently, the league has 19 former players in coaching positions.