Renee Brown, VP, Women’s Basketball Assn

Sometimes it pays to listen to mom. And to your old high school teacher, Matty Smith, as well.

“My mother always told me to believe in myself, no matter what happens,” said Renee Brown, Vice President of the Women’s National Basketball Association. “And Ms. Smith – who still call whenever I need to make a professional decision till this day hammered home the idea that success is all about self-discipline. She said, ‘take each lesson life offers you and learn from it’.”

Smith taught at Basic High School, in Henderson, Nevada. “A very fitting name,” smiled Brown,. Brwon became the first African American executive in the WNBA in March 2000.

“I was a coach going on 20 years at that point at every level – high school, college, and Olympic –learning the game under some of the best basketball brains in the country,” says Brown. “Then, in 1995, I became chief scout and assistant coach for the women’s Olympic basketball team, the one that won the gold medal in Atlanta.”

A week after conquering the world, Brown was in the fledgling WNBA offices interviewing with CEO Val Ackerman. “She presented a vision to me that I was very impressed with,” Brown says. “It was the vision of a quality women’s basketball league that would allow our great American players to play for pay in front of their friends and family at home. Our women –who were the best players in the world, after all –would not need to go abroad any longer in order to make a living playing basketball.”

A quality league needed quality talent. That’s where Brown’s extensive experience came into play. “My main function was, and still is, to find the best talent anywhere in the world,” says Brown. “I just worked the Olympics, seeing the top women from everywhere. So I guess I was ideal for the job.”

After just five years, Brown is extremely encouraged with the state of the women’s professional game. “Our talent level is just getting better and better,” she said. “If fans come to see us, they get addicted. And no wonder: in many ways, we offer superior basketball – from the point of view of team play and fundamentals — than the men do.”

The success of the WNBA allowed Brown to live her dream. “If I am to tell anything to little girls that might follow me is to dare to dream,” she said. “Women can literally be anything they want to be these days. But you must be self disciplined and self motivated. And you must have a great passion for what you do, whatever it may be.”#

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