Shannon Stabler was named the new assistant general manager of the Santa Cruz Warriors, according to a press release issued by the team Oct. 2. She became the first woman in the franchise’s history to take on that role.
“My new role as the assistant general manager is to elevate our basketball program to new heights,” Stabler said in a video posted on the Santa Cruz Warriors YouTube channel. “We want players to come and play here, so we want to create the best atmosphere for them on the court, off the court. However I can help, I’m going to do that.”
Stabler went on to say, “To be named the first female assistant general manager in Santa Cruz Warriors history just means advancement. When I started here there wasn’t a female on the basketball side, and now we have two [working] full time. There’s now a women of basketball operations group within the NBA, and every time I go to those events it seems to double in size,” Stabler said in the video. “It’s cool to see how much we’ve grown in the past five years and I’m excited to see what’s to come.”
She is entering her sixth season with the Santa Cruz Warriors, starting her career as a community and public relations supervisor in 2019.
Stabler oversaw team media relations efforts, directed community initiatives and corporate sponsor events, while executing all external messaging for three years before transitioning to the basketball operations side of things.
Stabler was manager of basketball operations and team Development for the past two seasons. She was responsible for executing all basketball and non-basketball related operations for the Santa Cruz Warriors roster and coaching staff.
Her tasks included scheduling travel, managing team equipment and working with the training and coaching staff to support player development.
“Over the past two seasons, Shannon has been a great addition to our basketball operations team. She makes everything run smoothly from an operations, administration, and logistics standpoint,” Santa Cruz Warriors General Manager David Fatoki said in a press release issued by the team. “I have full confidence in her abilities to help lead our operation and I’m excited to watch her continue to grow within our organization.”
The Santa Cruz Warriors have seen tremendous success both on and off the court during Stabler’s tenure. The Warriors organization were named NBA G League Franchise of the Year three times (2020-21, 2021-22, 2023-24).
On the court, the Sea Dubs have had just one losing season over the past five years. They’ve had a combined regular season record of 85-70 since the start of the 2019-20 season.
Santa Cruz is just one of six NBA G League teams with at least three playoff appearances since the 2019-20 season.
The East Bay native graduated from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in 2017, where she majored with a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology. Stabler was also a member of the women’s soccer team.
Prior to her time in Santa Cruz, Stabler got her first experience working in sports with the Oakland Raiders as a community relations assistant before the team relocated to Las Vegas.
“Some of my hopes going forward is to just inspire the next generation of women in sports to show that it’s possible to be in these positions and that someone before has done it, so they can definitely do it,” Stabler said.
