Programming note: Watch Kayte Christensen's exclusive interview with Stockton Kings general manager Anjali Ranadivé and coach Lindsey Harding on "Kings Central," which will debut Wednesday at 6 p.m. PT on NBC Sports California
Anjali Ranadivé and Lindsey Harding are embarking on a historic NBA milestone together.
Ranadivé was named general manager of the Kings' G League affiliate in Stockton, and in a corresponding move, Harding was hired as the team's head coach -- marking the first time an NBA G League team has been led by women.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Bay Area and California sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
While both Ranadivé and Harding recognize how unique the opportunity is as women in a predominantly male-dominated space, they don't want their gender to overshadow their ability to run a basketball team.
Harding, who was selected No. 1 overall in the 2007 WNBA Draft following a standout career at Duke, played nine seasons in the league while also playing internationally in Turkey, Lithuania, Russia and at the 2016 Summer Olympics.
From player to scout to coach, Harding shared with NBC Sports California's Kayte Christensen on "Kings Central" what she's most excited about stepping into this new role.
"A big part of what I feel is important is the player development," Harding said. "I've played. I have a team full of guys who want to be in the NBA -- who can be in the NBA. And to get them to that point would be amazing. I'm not just here just to coach and teach, I care. I was them. And they have these goals. They've never been coached by a woman before, but to see them look at me and they listen, and they want to get there. We have the same goal in mind.
NBA
"I'm excited to really work with them, having that relationship that you have to build but knowing that I've been in their shoes before is important. You talk about goals, we want to win. First, you have to establish a winning culture, you have to do things the right way, [but] the biggest goal is to win a championship."
Harding spent the last four seasons with Sacramento as an assistant coach/player development coach. After playing a role in Sacramento turning things around last season and snapping its 17-year playoff drought, Harding decided it was time to dip her toes into a new journey.
While Harding never pictured herself in this role, the opportunity is something Ranadivé has always dreamt of. But growing up watching as many NBA and WNBA games with her dad, Sacramento Kings owner Vivek Ranadivé, she didn't see a lot of female representation in those basketball spaces.
Several years later, she hopes to change that.
"It's a dream come true," Ranadivé told Christensen. "If you would've told me this when I was six or seven years old watching games, I wouldn't have believed you. Growing up, not seeing much representation. I really admired women like Lisa Leslie who were kind of leading the way in the space when it came to media and broadcasting after their careers, but you really didn't see many women in the front office. You didn't see many women on the coaching side either. And especially women of color. And that's one thing that me and Lindsey always talk about is wanting to make a difference for young girls, especially young women of color.
"But I think one thing that really stood out to me and how epic and humbling and incredible this opportunity and experience really is, this offseason we were conducting interviews for some of our new job openings and positions, and Lindsey and I talked to some incredible young women. And a lot of them talked about how they never even thought about potentially pursuing a coaching career. Some of them said they want to run an NFL team one day. They want to be a head coach of an NBA team one day. And they didn't even think about it until they saw us in these positions. And that's when I got goosebumps.
"And I remember being a little girl and seeing that, seeing young women start to emerge in this space. And then you start to think, 'Wow, maybe I can actually do this one day. Maybe other women can do this one day.' So for us, we want to continue to create opportunities for young women and just building off of that."