Chris Sienko
From Hoopedia
In his fifth season as the General Manager of the Connecticut Sun, Chris Sienko has been instrumental in establishing the franchise as one of the most successful in the WNBA. Working closely with coach Mike Thibault, Sienko has been extremely aggressive during each offseason, building a team that has qualified for the playoffs all four seasons, reached the WNBA Finals twice, and had the best regular-season record in the WNBA the last two years.
Five of the seven trades in franchise history have happened while Sienko has been the General Manager of the Sun. The most recent of those deals was a draft day swap that brought San Antonio center Margo Dydek to Connecticut in April of 2005. The 7-foot-2 Dydek had an immediate impact on what had been an undersized Sun frontcourt, setting single game and single season franchise records for blocked shots while helping Connecticut set team records for rebounding.
In the span of 79 days during the winter of 2004, Sienko engineered three trades that changed the face of the franchise. The biggest of those deals was a trade that sent four-time All-Star point guard Shannon Johnson and two picks (21st and 34th) to San Antonio for the Silver Stars’ fourth, 16th and 29th picks in the 2004 WNBA Draft. The Sun used the fourth pick to select University of Minnesota star Lindsay Whalen. Sienko also acquired forward Asjha Jones from Washington in a three-way deal that involved Phoenix on March 25th, bringing the former UConn star back to Connecticut.
Sienko oversaw a hectic transition period that began when the Mohegan Tribe’s purchase of the Orlando Miracle was officially announced on Jan. 28, 2003. In the 95 days between that announcement and the Sun’s first preseason game against the New York Liberty, Sienko traded for Connecticut icon Rebecca Lobo, hired coach Mike Thibault and the rest of the Sun front office staff, helped negotiate the team’s radio and television contracts and managed all of the many other day-to-day business functions of the franchise, including player contracts and personnel moves for the team. In addition to his role as GM for the Sun, Sienko was also directing all sporting events for the property, including boxing, wrestling, college and professional basketball, bowling, billiards and more.
Prior to joining Mohegan Sun, Sienko was an integral part in the start up of another professional sports team, the ABL’s New England Blizzard, where he served as vice president of marketing, then general manager. He also was president of the Arthur Robert Group, a small advertising agency in Connecticut for eight years, before becoming vice president of marketing for thePit.com, which was successfully sold to Topps, Inc. in 2000.
A graduate of the University of Connecticut, Sienko lives in Newington, Connecticut with his family.
