Valkyries general manager Ohemaa Nyanin couldn’t remember the exact game. The opponent, the date, was less important than the profundity it delivered, and the peace that came with it.
“It was a gritty win,” she said. Most of Golden State’s 23 wins, a WNBA record for an expansion franchise, could be described as gritty. But this one, especially. Because Nyanin, like the rest of her team, could sense the urgency. The need for a win, the pressure of the playoffs, the adversity of injuries, the grind of a season. The Valkyries felt a different kind of weight, and coach Natalie Nakase turned up the heat, to get her players to dig deeper.
When Golden State gutted out the win, it produced an especially euphoric Valkyries locker room after the game. The music blasted. The players danced. And Nakase did what was most unexpected. The fire-breathing coach, the notorious grinder, the woman with a farmer’s work ethic and a sailor’s tongue, she stretched a smile across her face and danced with her team.
“She saw that they needed to see her that way,” Nyanin said, beaming as she remembered the visual, “and let loose for like 15 seconds. It was a great 15 seconds. They saw it. They were so happy. … And then she locked in and gave another prolific postgame speech.”
For Nyanin, it was confirmation. She hired Nakase because she believed she was the right coach. As they put the team together, it was clear she had made a good decision. As the Valkyries took off, surprisingly competitive and headed towards a historic season, all doubt was gone about how well they nailed this hire.
But a difference exists between landing the perfect coach for their situation and landing an elite coach. Nakase kept proving, convincingly, she could handle the unique task of an expansion roster under the pressure of Golden State expectations. But the locker room scene Nyanin witnessed validated what they hoped they spotted last summer when they hired Nakase — a special coach, a leader who had all the tools to deliver a championship.
Nakase, now the Associated Press WNBA Coach of the Year, has people in Golden State feeling like they found a gem. Much of this season has been a subtle flex of her depth. A gradual unveiling of her complete package.
“She’s terrific,” Valkyries owner Joe Lacob said. “She’s got a great, I think, feel for the game. … She’s got a great feel for what she needs to do and for motivating players.”
In our first season, she set the standard. Natalie Nakase is the Associated Press Coach of the Year after guiding the Valkyries to the playoffs in year one. pic.twitter.com/tagHwHO0bM
— Golden State Valkyries (@valkyries) September 12, 2025
Sunday presents another monster challenge for Nakase to declare her worthiness. The Valkyries open the first round of the playoffs against the best team in the league. Minnesota is a particularly tough matchup for them. The Lynx blasted Golden State by 20 points Thursday, dropping the Valkyries to the eight seed. With the convincing win, Minnesota essentially declared its desire to play Golden State in the first round, or at least its lack of concern about the Valkyries as a foe. The Lynx had nothing to play for and could’ve rested. Instead, they played all of their stars and handled Golden State, locking in the expansion franchise for the first round.
Even if that wasn’t Minnesota’s intention, it’s a safe bet that’s how Nakase took it.
“Her competitive fire,” assistant coach Kasib Powell said with widened eyes as he shook his head. “She loves basketball. All she wants to do is get us better. It never stops. We’re constantly talking, texting. If you can’t match her competitive fire, then you’ll get left behind.”
Lacob launched the franchise under the same high bar he instilled when he bought the Golden State Warriors — a championship in five years. It’s a pressure that permeates the organization, one that requires operating like the best to become the best. Lacob expects everything to reflect a championship pedigree, and the Valkyries work with that Warriors’ aura hovering over them.
It’s a challenge Nyanin embraces, loves even. It matches her own perspective.
“There’s no comfort. There is zero complacency,” Nyanin said. “I like the hard work and the sacrifice. Like, we talk about it amongst ourselves and our families, more specifically. … It’s all eat, sleep, breathe, Valkyries.”
But it’s not just about the number of hours logged and Red Bulls downed. Championships demand competitiveness and competence.
What Nyanin saw in Nakase’s locker room groovin’ was a coach who had the capacity to understand what was required and the capability to execute. It was a portrait of why they believe they found more than just their first coach.
The hours are the easy part for Nakase. She’s built her career on her willingness to put in the work. She even makes her family watch film. Her insatiable appetite for information, her addiction to basketball, is how she always makes a good first impression on those with whom she works.
Nakase is always prepared. Obsessively prepared.
It’s what Nyanin noticed immediately when she began interviewing for the head coaching job. It’s what blew Lacob away in their first meeting, just over a year ago in Las Vegas.
“I knew right there,” said Lacob, who interviewed Nakase over brunch at a restaurant in the Wynn hotel. “I’m sold. Done deal. I loved her. … I love her story. I love her style. I love her intensity. She’s fantastic.”
Powell, the lead assistant, had the same reaction. The first staff meeting was a Zoom call Nakase put together. His new boss’ grasp of the game, the amount of work she’d already put in. New gigs are typically exciting. But he found a new level after that Zoom call.
That level of preparedness is part of the staff’s ethos. Assistant coaches feel it when it’s their turn to scout the opponent.
“You’re up all night,” Powell said. “If you’re presenting her with your scout or whatever it is, if it’s thin, if it’s not thorough, if she doesn’t like it — she’s going to let you know. You gotta bring it.”
Her personality infused the Valkyries’ play. Without a superstar to play through, and not especially athletic, Golden State made the playoffs by leaning into the intangibles. Playing hard. Executing the scheme. Spreading teams out with its offense and staying connected on defense. And the Valkyries held the rope. Despite losing streaks. Despite injuries and lineup changes. They didn’t relent. That’s a Nakase team.
But what’s not so visible on the surface is the complexity behind the gritted-teeth approach. The Valkyries’ defense has evolved. Their scheme can fluctuate on the fly. They’re a good defensive team because of their depth and strategy.
Some of that creativity is evident on offense, too, even though they don’t have the top-end talent. Once teams started keying in on Veronica Burton, the breakout star who became their best playmaker once Kayla Thornton went down, Nakase had to get creative to generate good looks.
Scoring gets tough for the Valkyries. It often comes down to Nakase, on the fly, pressing the right buttons. When to go with three guards. When to turn to Kate Martin, a floor-stretching shooter. When to go big and dump the ball inside. When to give Burton a rest.
In their postseason-clinching win over Dallas on Sept. 4, Nakase made the call to break the rotation and rest Burton to start the fourth quarter. It gave rookie guard Carla Leite a longer rope, and she was in a groove, and Burton was fresh down the stretch, making the game-sealing basket on a tough drive.
The moment that sealed our historic postseason appearance. @Veronicaab22 took it herself, and the team’s reaction says it all.@Waymo | Drive of the Game pic.twitter.com/eE5PVM82Vi
— Golden State Valkyries (@valkyries) September 5, 2025
“The word I continue to use is methodical,” Nyanin said. “She sees the game differently than everybody else sees the game. So she knows when a player is tired, when she can push them for a couple more minutes. They’re looking at her, and she’s looking right back at them.”
The secret ingredient to Nakase has been her ability to balance the fervor with the finer elements of coaching. Her polish exceeds her head coaching experience. How she knows when it is time to put her arm around a player and who needs it the most. When to go foam-at-the-mouth intense and when to tug on heartstrings with one of her motivational speeches.
Her postgame press conferences can be a roller coaster ride. She’d flash a big smile while insisting she is, indeed, happy, contrary to her fiery disposition on the sidelines, and filibuster her answers with award campaigns for her players. She attacks questions she believes are laced with false narrative, such as shooting slumps. Yet, she will crack jokes and be warm on the podium after a loss. Once, she corrected a media member who misquoted her as saying “f-ing” and made the questioner repeat the exact word she used, in all its f-bomb glory.
One of the concerns about Nakase when she first took the job was whether she was too much of a grinder. The position of a head coach is also a front-facing position. The Valkyries didn’t have a known superstar to throw out there, and a general manager who prefers the shadows, so the responsibility fell on Nakase to be the face of the franchise. But she did it, growing into the role in a way that surpassed expectations, especially since everyone knew she’d much rather pore over film than shake hands and kiss babies. But it revealed another layer, one that showed she might be fit for it all. The start and the finish. The inaugural season and the championship dreams.
More tests will come. Nakase’s style of play befits the roster. A bunch of overachievers with a chip on their shoulder executing the game plan. She and Nyanin were intentional about the kind of player they chose.
But a talent upgrade is coming. Maybe a superstar. And making the playoffs soon won’t be a celebratory feat. That’s why the layers of competence she displayed between the lines were so encouraging. The adaptability, the versatility — they are more convinced Nakase’s just as ready for what’s next as she was for this.
When it’s time to push the expectations up a level, she’s got more than enough fire. When it’s time to adjust the scheme, she can manipulate the Xs and Os. When it’s time to switch up the style and deal with more accomplished players, she has the credibility and emotional IQ to do so.
And when it’s time to switch up the tone, lighten the mood, and let the squad experience some joy, Nakase is willing to get in there and dance with her team.
(Photo of Natalie Nakase: Ezra Shaw / Getty Images)