Sports Illustrated and Empower Onyx highlight the diverse journeys of black women across various sports—from veteran athletes to rising stars, coaches, CEOs, and more—in the series, Elle-evate: 100 Influential Black Women in Sports.
Portia Archer was asked to fill the newly created position of Chief Operating Officer for the NBA’s G League because she was in the right place at the right time. Archer has gone through her life thinking that if she works hard, she can make her dreams come true, but after sitting at a panel at Columbia University, where she went to business school, she sensed how networking can land you in some very cool places. So when the question is: What do you want to do next in your career? Leading Archer to be the first in a role of its kind, she was open and ready to embrace a position that would allow her to lead and grow one of the most important components of the NBA.
“The G League has never had a General Manager of Operations,” Archer says. “This role is new. So, I am the first COO, the first woman and the first black woman.”
This new title is what Archer proudly refers to as a “disabled role,” which is also in line with her previous positions. Her work directing the consumer business was all about no-brokering, too, she said.
“So, turbulence is what I did. That was part of my phone card,” says Archer.
She adds that the pandemic has “outperformed” her experience by building muscle around adaptation, resilience, pivoting, or dealing with change.
“It’s one of our superpowers, and it arose out of the worst of circumstances,” Archer says, adding that as an organization the G League is now better equipped to handle, manage, and achieve success on the other end of massive turmoil and change.
Changing the lives of players, coaches, and officials is one of the things Archer looks forward to in her role in League G. She says she knows how to run business well and effectively, knows how to serve clients and stakeholders, and empowers people throughout the league.
“The G League is an organization of opportunities, and it really is about creating a place and a platform for young people,” Archer says. “I came up to help them achieve their dreams and their goals of getting into the NBA. … This also extends to the coaches and officials, some like me, some not.” It’s similar to me. There are a number of women in leadership positions who have had opportunities to move up and pursue their careers. This part of my role is something I am very proud of and I think my past experiences in strange ways have sort of prepared me for entering this leadership position.”
The Chicago native doesn’t think it’s entirely unintended for her to end up here. She knows that there is a meeting point between opportunity and readiness, and she has taken time throughout her career and academic journey to empower herself to work in this role.
Archer knows that her university, the University of Chicago, taught her how to learn effectively, think critically, ask tough questions, and truly understand, in her case, how economics and public policy can shape and change lives. Columbia Business School then taught her what to prioritize in business: how to help companies excel and how to effectively and efficiently lead business toward success.
She also addressed early on that relationship building was very important to her professional growth and success. She didn’t know it at the time, but there was a big opportunity meeting coming up that would eventually cement her new position in the G League.
Archer ended up at Columbia and introduced her to Melissa Rosenthal Brenner, the NBA’s executive vice president of digital media.
“I must have said some really cool things because then she asked, What do you want to do next in your career?Archer says.
This conversation came at a perfect time when Archer was trying to figure out how to marry her career with her personal interest in sports. She led Brenner to indicate that she believed Archer would be a perfect fit for a new opportunity in the NBA, which was none other than the newly created COO position.
says Archer, who is also on the Board of Trustees of the Women’s Sports Foundation. “I think learning that building this amorphous network has been valuable because it helps you take advantage of the hard work you put in. It gives you leverage to rise and amplify it.”
Archer, now an assistant professor in Columbia University’s Sports Management Program, has also worked in technology consulting, helping companies implement software and tools to empower and change their businesses. She eventually left that role and started her own coffee bar, Mo Java, on Chicago’s south side in Hyde Park. There, again, she was learning how to think about the products they were offering and how to make sure they were providing good service to their customers.
“In some cases, we changed our lives by creating wealth and establishing this business,” Archer says. “But we’ve also created jobs and changed the profiles and opportunities for people in our community.”
Archer has also spent part of her career at BBC in London, HBO, Time Warner and NBC Sports Group.
“All of these professional roles have prepared me for a position where my residency is really broad, covering many different areas and aspects of our league,” Archer says.
Somewhere between 53% and 60% of the players on the NBA rosters come from the G League in the NBA. The organization’s mission and vision is to be the destination to present the next generation of talent and stars in the NBA.
Archer explains that the G League is an organization of opportunity across a number of different stakeholders: from players to coaches to administrators and front-office executives, it is a place for talent training and development.
To keep this mission thriving, the League launched the G League Ignite, a team that serves youths ineligible for the NBA draft due to age. This program will help ensure the organization can continue to deliver on its vision and develop these younger men — who are equally talented basketball players, she says, and compare them to Venus and Serena Williams when they were just starting out.
Athletes can, when their talents permit, start their careers as teenagers. G League Ignite enables those elite youngsters with a drive and interest in a professional career to start early. They have a place where they can train, prepare, develop and learn from NBA veterans and coaches as well as current NBA players who can not only teach them the game on the court, but can also help teach them what it means to be a professional on the court. Furthermore, these young players are offered academic scholarships through the program as well, so that they do not have to give up their education.
These young athletes are empowered to get an education along with training and prepare for the NBA draft. They receive a salary and are trained to manage their new income and wealth. They also learn about ideas and opportunities they might want to pursue after their sports career is over.
“I am proud of what we have created and developed, such a rich program for young people,” Archer says, adding that the effort is supported by NBA legend and G League president Sherif Abdel Rahim. Two young men were recruited last year. One was drafted to number two in the NBA draft, and another was drafted to number 7. Never before in the history of the G League.”
Normally, the league develops players and they come later to fill one of the 450 spots on the roster. They usually don’t come through the draft directly to the NBA, but with Archer at the helm, the G League has a chance to provide that direct path and work toward its goal of creating chances for the many players to come.
Briana Jean Marie He is a contributor to Empower Agatea diverse, multi-channel platform that celebrates the stories and transformative power of sport for black women and girls.