Monett native Cox rises to WNBA pinnacle

Cox
Takes management post with Caitlin Clark’s team
Amber Cox, a 1992 graduate of Monett High School and a subsequent coach, has risen to one of the highest positions in professional sports. In October she became the chief operating officer and general manager of the Indiana Fever Women’s National Basketball Association team, where superstar Caitlin Clark plays. The team, owned by the same group that has the Indiana Pacers, begins its season on May 17.
“I’m incredibly fortunate to be in this position,” Cox said.
Cox has been in the thick of professional sports throughout her career. She played at William Woods University, worked at Columbia College, an NAIA school, in sports information and as an assistant coach for five years, then applied for a post at the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury in 2005, the year after star Diana Taurasi left.
While Cox was there, the Mercury won championships in 2007 and 2009, and drafted Brittney Griner. Cox became the team’s president and chief operating officer.
From 2016 to 2021, Cox served as vice president for sports for the WNBA’s Connecticut Sun, where she led all revenue-generating operations, and saw the team reach the WNBA finals in 2019. Closer to home she led business operations for the National Women’s Soccer League’s Kansas City Current in 2021, getting that team off the ground in its first year-and-a-half. She served as chief marketing officer for two professional soccer league teams in Houston, the men’s Dynamo and the women’s Dash, and even served as associate commissioner for women’s basketball at the Big East Conference from 2014-15.
Cox became chief operating officer for the WNBA’s Dallas Wings, establishing best business metrics for the franchise in its 2023 and 2024 seasons, playing before 97 percent capacity crowds.
While in Phoenix, Cox met Kelly Krauskopf, who started the Indiana Fever. Krauskopf returned to the fever in September as president for business and basketball operations. She contacted Cox and drew her to the team.
“Kelly Krauskopf has been my mentor,” Cox said. “She taught people like me the right way to do things. The key is to be ready. [The surge in popularity] is happening across the league, and in women’s soccer. It’s a testament to being ready. There’s no wheel to reinvent. There are incredible people in our organization who think outside the box.”
Monett sports
Cox credits her background in Monett sports as the key to giving her direction and focus for her career.
“We’re all a product of where we come from,” she said. “I’m incredibly proud to have been born and raised in Monett. I owe so much to my grandmother, Frances Tucker, who is still alive, and has always been an idol of mine, and my mother. She gave me such a great example, telling me that if I worked hard enough, I can achieve it. I give thanks to Christopher Williams, who was drum major with me in the Monett High School band, and to my teachers, John Cheary, Jeanne Ann Camp, Jackie Bolton, Cleo Elbert, and Heno Head. Those are the people who really shaped the person I am today, teaching me drive, hard work, and [Monett’s city slogan] Pride and Progress.”
In her current role, Cox said it’s important to recognize where women’s professional basketball has come from to envision where it’s going.
“When I grew up, you were playing for a college scholarship. That’s it,” she said. “Now you can make a good living playing college basketball. I think the key to growth of the WNBA league is time. It’s only been 28 years. Major League Baseball has been going for 100+ years. When I got involved in 2005, it was only the league’s 10th year. There’s a lot of learning going on.”
Cox recalled a game in Dallas last year where she sat next to a man who had never been to a Dallas Wings women’s basketball game before. By the third quarter, he declared, “Where do I buy season tickets? How have I been missing out on this?”
“Once you get people in the door,” Cox said, “they have a good time and become part of the basketball community. Parents can bring their daughters to see a woman play, a real example of equality. It’s happening in the hundreds, then the thousands, and now there’s a steamroller effect.”
Cailtin Clark mania
Add the impact of social media, and the popularity of Fever star Caitlin Clark, and Cox said it just keeps growing from there.
“Caitlin Clark is a huge multiplier of that,” Cox said. “All the fans following her in college are following her to the WNBA and realizing what they’ve been missing.”
As for Clark herself, Cox said, “I think she’s handled everything in tremendous fashion. Watching her from a distance last year, I was so impressed with her from afar, handling the interest. She performed at an incredibly high level under a magnifying glass. Getting to know her as a person, she’s a great young woman, a role model for kids. She doesn’t need any advice from me. She’s a superstar in every sense of the word.”
Asked if she ever feels tempted to get out on the hardwood and play with the team, Cox said, “God, no! These women are skilled and strong and fast. I just keep in my mind how good I was in the 1990s and believe in that. My knees can’t handle it anymore.”
Cox said her work from team to team has evolved depending on the local market. As COO, her work is split between ticket sales, sponsorships, and working in the community. The general manager’s job focuses on building the roster and making sure the player experience is “the best it can be.” She has no typical days, depending on what meetings she has.
“You’re never bigger than any job,” she said. “If you need to go move a sign, help in the retail shop, it goes back to teamwork. I step in and do whatever needs to be done. I help the organization be the best it can be. I’m doing it for a purpose I love – providing a platform for these incredible women. I’m really passionate about that. If you stay grateful about your ‘why,’ it brings you back to focus. I’m super grateful to be part of it.”
Catching Fever
As for her goals in her first season with the Fever, Cox said with last year’s run from the basement into the playoffs, her work will focus on helping the team continue to advance.
“It’s a very young team,” she said. “Every team has a hope to hang a banner. On the business side, I want to keep building Fever fans. We’ve got so much great momentum, bringing more people to the WNBA. These women are amazing, We’ve got an amazing product. If we can get them in the door, they’ll come back. I want to continue to grow the sport. That’s always the goal.”
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