![\"Golden](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/AP25123015976540.jpg\")
Golden State Valkyries head coach Natalie Nakase, left, laughs while talking with guard and former Flintridge Prep star Kaitlyn Chen during training camp May 2, 2025, at the WNBA team\u2019s facility in Oakland. (AP Photo\/Jeff Chiu)<\/p>\nHUNTINGTON BEACH \u2014 Natalie Nakase beat the sunrise.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not because she couldn\u2019t sleep. It\u2019s not because she didn\u2019t have time to rest on this March morning. After all, the start of the WNBA season was two months away. And, yet, Nakase was tormenting herself \u2013 waking up at 5 a.m. one morning, and going to bed after midnight the next evening.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m training myself,\u201d she says, \u201cto sustain positive energy and mental focus through exhaustion.\u201d<\/p>\n
This was her way, she explains, of preparing for the inconsistency of the WNBA schedule. Nobody asked her to do this. None of the esteemed coaches \u2013 Doc Rivers, Tyronn Lue, Becky Hammon \u2013 who mentored her taught her this strategy. No, she\u2019s just crazy, she says.<\/p>\n
Crazy about winning.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the only important thing in my life,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019m laser focused. I\u2019m a hard worker. I\u2019m obsessive.\u201d<\/p>\n
And right now, to achieve winning, she has to embody those traits.<\/p>\n
Nakase faces a rare challenge. She\u2019s a first-time head coach leading a brand-new franchise: the WNBA\u2019s latest expansion team, the Golden State Valkyries. There\u2019s no foundation, no culture. She\u2019s tasked with establishing both. She\u2019s responsible for uniting players who\u2019ve never played together and building a franchise from the ground up.<\/p>\n
Golden State Valkyries head coach Natalie Nakase, left, laughs while talking with guard and former Flintridge Prep star Kaitlyn Chen during training camp May 2, 2025, at the WNBA team\u2019s facility in Oakland. (AP Photo\/Jeff Chiu)<\/p>\n
This is her dream job. Yet, she feels no pressure, she says. That\u2019s why she was hired.<\/p>\n
When Nakase was being considered for the Valkyries\u2019 position, she was interviewed by team owner Joe Lacob, a billionaire executive who has also owned the Golden State Warriors since 2010. Soon into their conversation, Nakase noticed she gained comfort hearing how hard Lacob worked for his success.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou remind me of my dad,\u201d she told him.<\/p>\n
\u2018Lift your head\u2019<\/p>\n
The late Gary Nakase was quiet but intelligent, his daughters\u2019 friends and loved ones described. Standing 5-foot-5 with long, graying facial\u00a0hair, he picked his spots, but when he spoke, you listened.<\/p>\n
That was only one side of Nakase\u2019s experience.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust tough,\u201d she said, \u201cstrict, brutally honest. But, he always wanted the best for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
When Nakase was 10 years old, she had a bad game and overheard parents chastising her mistakes. She grew frustrated, put her head down and began to cry. Her dad walked over to her, his overgrown mustache and flip flops standing out in a gym of fades and Jordans.<\/p>\n
\u201cLift your head,\u201d Nakase recalled him saying.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t ever give a (expletive) about what people think,\u201d he continued. \u201cAlways believe in yourself, Natalie. Always.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat gave me a completely different mindset,\u201d Nakase said, reflecting on the impressionable moment. \u201cI was like, \u2018OK, great, I don\u2019t have to care what people think.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Throughout her childhood, Nakase\u2019s father intentionally placed her in \u201chigh-adversity\u201d situations.<\/p>\n
When she rose to be the top girl on her childhood team, he made her play against boys. When she made history as the first freshman on the girls\u2019 varsity squad at Marina High in Huntington Beach, he forced her to play against women in the offseason. Whenever she became the best, he wanted her to remember what it felt like to be the worst, and have to work for everything all over again.<\/p>\n
Because of this, she grew wary of receiving opportunities for free, even if they were deserved. She turned down a basketball scholarship from UC Irvine, instead deciding to walk on at UCLA.<\/p>\n
\u2018A floor general\u2019<\/p>\n
In the fall of 1998, all 5-foot-2 of her strutted into Kathy Olivier\u2019s office and told the then-UCLA women\u2019s basketball coach that she could hang with the Bruins\u2019 scholarship players and earn her own if she tried out.<\/p>\n
There weren\u2019t formal tryouts, so it helped that Olivier had scouted Nakase at Marina, where she had led the Vikings to a CIF championship as a senior.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was a very good leader,\u201d Olivier said. \u201cA floor general. Those types of players are usually very good coaches.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"UCLA](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/GettyImages-655283.jpg\")
UCLA guard Natalie Nakase listens to head coach Kathy Oliver during a game against Georgia on Dec. 30, 2000, at Pauley Pavilion. (Jon Ferrey\/Allsport via Getty Images)<\/p>\n
The same determination that Nakase carried into Olivier\u2019s office, she held throughout her career, never avoiding the grind needed to achieve any goal.<\/p>\n
She tore her ACL before her freshman season at UCLA, but still earned a scholarship because she was a sponge, Olivier said. By her senior year, she became team captain. She held teammates accountable in a way they respected, slipping them uplifting comments during games, and encouraging them to meet her for early morning workouts.<\/p>\n
Her former college teammate, Michelle Greco, who has remained close with Nakase, described her as having the \u201cSteph Curry effect.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou see yourself more in Natalie because she\u2019s just that everyday girl,\u201d the former Bruins and Crescenta Valley High star said. \u201cShe worked her tail off to get to where she\u2019s at, and it wasn\u2019t because of her natural physical abilities. I think it says a lot for kids growing up and they see someone like Natalie: You know that if you sacrifice and you\u2019re disciplined, and you work hard enough, why can\u2019t I do it too?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018She was just good\u2019<\/p>\n
Asian-American women are a distinct minority in NBA circles, but the lack of examples didn\u2019t dissuade Nakase. Channeling her father\u2019s message to not care about others\u2019 paths, she paved her own.<\/p>\n
![\"As](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/AP12022118303.jpg\")
As the first female head coach in the history of Japan\u2019s professional men\u2019s basketball league, the Saitama Broncos\u2019 Natalie Nakase watches players during the Basketball Japan League All-Star Game on Jan. 15, 2012, in Saitama, Japan. (AP Photo)<\/p>\n
After starting her career overseas, she earned a position in player development for the Clippers, who were then coached by Rivers. She immediately commanded the respect of players a foot or two taller than her. She worked to understand Rivers\u2019 system because she felt being well-prepared allowed her to coach with confidence.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I hired Natalie,\u201d Rivers said. \u201cI didn\u2019t look at her like she was small, I didn\u2019t look at her like male, female or any of that stuff, she was just good.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nakase spent 10 seasons with the Clippers, maintaining her role under their next head coach, Tyronn Lue. Her goal was to become an NBA head coach<\/a>. But in 2021, when her father passed away, she couldn\u2019t avoid seeing reminders of him throughout Southern California.<\/p>\n She felt a new area and challenge were necessary.<\/p>\n Lue suggested contacting Becky Hammon, the head coach of the Las Vegas Aces who had also cut her teeth as an assistant in the NBA with San Antonio\u2019s Gregg Popovich. At first Nakase was hesitant, but when they spoke, Hammon\u2019s first question was, \u201cHow are you doing as a person?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI knew right then and there I needed to work with her,\u201d Nakase said of joining Hammon\u2019s Aces staff<\/a>. \u201cI needed to learn from her. I needed to be under her care.\u201d<\/p>\n In Nakase\u2019s first season with the Aces in 2022, the team overcame a low preseason projection to win the WNBA championship. Their collective perseverance made that season Nakase\u2019s favorite of her career. The Aces went back-to-back, winning it again the following year.<\/p>\n At that point, Nakase had earned the reputation as a championship-caliber assistant and, with the popularity around women\u2019s basketball heightening, she saw a route to a new goal as a WNBA head coach.<\/p>\n To earn that position, it didn\u2019t hurt to have the support of Rivers, Lue and Hammon. And now that she\u2019s reached her goal, Nakase says, she\u2019s applying lessons from each of them.<\/p>\n From Lue, she took the importance of communication. From Hammon, she has the power of empathy. From Rivers, she learned the first step to starting any franchise is building a culture.<\/p>\n Rivers, though, told her she can\u2019t just mimic her mentors.<\/p>\n \u201cJust be true to yourself,\u201d he told her. \u201cThat\u2019s all that matters.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n So, during the WNBA\u2019s expansion draft, Nakase sought relentless workers with a high IQ. And, when it came to her personal image of the Valkyries\u2019 culture, Nakase says, her players are her culture.<\/p>\n In the months leading up to training camp and the WNBA season, she harped on connectivity, understanding what made her players tick. She connected with them through Zooms and phone calls, as many were playing overseas or in the Unrivaled league.<\/p>\n Nakase and the Valkyries\u2019 owner, Lacob, are aligned. Bonded by the intense determination that reminded Nakase of her father, they share lofty expectations. They\u2019re striving for a playoff appearance in the first season, and to contend for a title within five years.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a brand new team,\u201d Nakase said. \u201cSo we have to be clear and concise with our teaching. We\u2019re not wasting the players\u2019 time.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018I failed as much as I could\u2019<\/p>\n Back in Huntington Beach, Nakase\u2019s presence is undeniable. While she doesn\u2019t have as much time to return and share her mantra of diligence and self-confidence, her story is revered.<\/p>\n \u201cSo many kids can relate to her,\u201d said Danny Roussel, the girls\u2019 varsity coach at Marina High. \u201cProbably half of our girls are little Asian girls that look like her. They see themselves in her. So that\u2019s really cool that they can look up to somebody from Huntington Beach that looks like them.\u201d<\/p>\n Marina recently started retiring the jerseys of former boys\u2019 basketball players as a way to honor its history. Roussel felt he needed to do the same for the girls\u2019 team. Nakase was the clear inaugural choice.<\/p>\n So, about 18 months ago, the Vikings\u2019 gym welcomed Nakase, her family, her former Marina teammates and coach, her former UCLA teammates, a handful of Aces players she coached, people from Orange County\u2019s Southeast Asian basketball community, and a Zoom appearance from Doc Rivers. A world of individuals whom Nakase has touched, grouped into one room to do the thing she hates the most: Celebrate her achievements<\/a>.<\/p>\n She inspired them with her journey, and on that afternoon, she allowed herself to relish in it, pausing her constant drive for a moment of satisfaction.<\/p>\n \u201cI never felt like I was gonna be that impressionable or inspirational,\u201d Nakase says. \u201cI literally just follow my passion and what I stand for. The reason why I\u2019m here is, I took big risks and I failed as much as I could.\u201d<\/p>\n She constantly encourages young girls to do the same \u2013 make mistakes, experience and enjoy struggles, follow aspirations regardless of outside opinions, and work hard for whatever the dream is.<\/p>\n \u201cIf I can put that imprint on the next generation, then I feel like there is going to be a next Natalie Nakase,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HUNTINGTON BEACH \u2014 Natalie Nakase beat the sunrise. It\u2019s not because she couldn\u2019t sleep. It\u2019s not because she…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":419854,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[99,23763,200686,434],"class_list":["post-419853","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-sports","tag-ucla-sports","tag-ucla-womens-basketball","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/419853","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=419853"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/419853\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/419854"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=419853"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=419853"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=419853"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Las](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/GettyImages-1610754666.jpg\")
Las Vegas Aces assistant coach Natalie Nakase, left, shares a laugh with head coach Becky Hammon on the bench before a game against the Washington Mystics on Aug. 11, 2023, in Las Vegas. (Photo by Ethan Miller\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n![\"Former](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/OCR-L-NAKASE-0125-16-LO.jpg\")
Former Marina High star Natalie Nakase, left, poses with current Vikings girls\u2019 basketball head coach Danny Roussel during a jersey retirement ceremony for Nakase in the Marina gym Jan. 18, 2024, in Huntington Beach. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register\/SCNG)<\/p>\n