Toronto Tempo’s first GM Monica Wright Rogers sets vision for WNBA expansion team’s future

TORONTO — As a native Arizonan with plenty of time in California on his resume, Nick U’Ren isn’t used to traversing downtown streets littered with 28 inches of snow — the official number so far in Toronto for February. But the Phoenix Mercury general manager wasn’t going to miss Monica Wright Rogers’ formal introduction as the GM for the Toronto Tempo expansion team. “In the coming months, we’re going to build this team from the ground up, hiring not only a head coach but an entire roster of talent that will shape our first season,” Wright Rogers said from a third-floor conference room in a building in Toronto’s waterfront district. Her wide breadth of experiences really captured us, and ultimately what set her apart was who she is as a person and what she brings to the table.” Wright Rogers described her leadership style as “people first, team first.” U’Ren said Wright Rogers’ greatest strength will be her wealth of connections in basketball, forged by a resume that includes a long playing career, coaching at the college level, a stint as an NBA executive and as the assistant general manager for the Mercury from 2023 to this year. Asked about a playing style, she offered no specifics yet but joked that she wanted the team to play “up tempo.” On the importance of Canadian players on the roster, Wright Rogers said: “I don’t want to make any roster promises, but I will say that I’m really excited about the talent that Canada has in the WNBA and upcoming through those NCAA pipelines, through the national team pipelines.