PORTLAND Ore. (KPTV) – The Portland Trail Blazers will soon share the Moda Center with another professional team as the return of the WNBA is scheduled to tip off in May. Meanwhile, Sunday was Portland Fire Night in Rip City.
Portland Fire general manager Vanja Černivic celebrated her birthday weekend on International Women’s Day, where the Trail Blazers hosted a WNBA Portland Fire theme night against the Indiana Pacers.
“I really want this to become the city where athletes want to come, so hopefully by the end of the season, we get to look back and say we added another pillar to what the epicenter of women’s sports means,” Černivic said. “Coming from San Francisco, I didn’t know what to expect, but I feel in love with the city very quickly.”
The former VP of the Golden State Valkakries is eager, like the rest, to see the awaited news of a collective bargaining agreement between WNBA players and owners that needs to come together soon for the season to tip off on time.
“Now watching the clubs from the 2000s, this arena was almost full. It had the highest attendance and I think Portland fans were kind of ahead of the curve when it comes to supporting women’s sports and women’s basketball,” Černivic said.
When the new CBA is finalized, GMs like Černivic will be all gas, no breaks on player acquisitions.
“At this stage, this is out of our control, the CBA so the most we can do as a staff is be prepared for when we will have to start rolling so very excited and then we will take the fans on a journey through the expansion draft and then free agency and then the NCAA draft and finally tip off here on May 9th so the excitement is peak high and I just am hoping the CBA gets finalized,” Černivic said.
Copyright 2026 KPTV-KPDX. All rights reserved.