The Golden State Valkyries have taken the first step prior to taking the floor in their inaugural WNBA season in 2025, naming Natalie Nakase as their head coach.
Nakase is not a new comer to the coaching world, having earned her stripes and previously worked in assistant coaching roles for the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers, the NBA G League’s Agua Caliente Clippers and winning two championships with the WNBA’s Las Vegas Aces.
The Valkyries, the first WNBA expansion franchise since the Atlanta Dream in 2008, are scheduled to join the league for the 2025 campaign.
Nakase, a former point guard for the UCLA Lady Bruins and the first Asian American player to compete in the National Women’s Basketball League, began her coaching career overseas in Germany and Japan.
After first joining the Clippers staff in 2012, Nakase was promoted to a player development/assistant coach for the team under Glen ‘Doc’ Rivers in 2018.
Following two seasons as an assistant with the Clippers and one working with their developmental affiliate, Nakase joined the WNBA as first assistant coach for Becky Hammon, where she helped lead the Aces to back-to-back titles in 2022 and 2023.
Embed from Getty ImagesAs part of the Aces organization, Nakase was involved in decisions including “in-game adjustments, substitution rotations, end of game decisions, time out strategies, head coach’s challenge usages, clock management and organizing the team on both ends of the court,” according to the Valkyries.
Nakase called her first WNBA head coaching job “a lifelong dream come true.”
“We are committed to building a winning culture of grit, hard work, and competitiveness,” Nakase said in a statement. “We will strive to improve, compete, and ultimately bring home a championship for our fans and this organization.”
One of the drawbacks of being an expansion rosters is Nakase not yet knowing what her team will look like next season, as the Valkyries will need to be patient and wait until December 6 to build their roster during the upcoming expansion draft.
Each of the twelve operating and existing WNBA teams will be able to block six players from being picked, after which Golden State will be able to select one unprotected player from each team.
Golden State will also be afforded the opportunity to select a player from the 2025 WNBA draft next April, although their draft position has not yet been determined.
The team had already announced the hiring of Ohemaa Nyanin as the general manager who will guide the team through the difficult process of expansion and college drafts, in May. Nyanin previously served as the assistant general manager for the New York Liberty.
The Valkyries are the WNBA affiliate of the NBA’s five-time champion Golden State Warriors. The league’s 13th team is set to tip off their debut season at the Chase Center in San Francisco next spring.
