Vanja Cernivec is the General Manager (women’s team) and the Global Director of Academy for the London Lions. Vanja’s life has been dedicated to basketball ever since she picked up the ball at the age of 12. After retiring from her professional basketball career, Vanja found every opportunity to volunteer at camps and events, just to stay in touch with the game. NBA recognized her passion and dedication to the game and offered her the first opportunity as a Jr. NBA coach in India and China. Later, she worked at the NBA EMEA office as part of their Basketball Operations team, where she managed the Jr. NBA programming and has lead on Basketball Without Borders and NBA Academy global initiatives on the women’s side. Before taking on the current role with the London Lions, Vanja worked as an international scout for the Chicago Bulls – where she became the first female in the NBA’s history to fulfil this position.
