{"id":501545,"date":"2026-03-03T16:35:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T16:35:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/501545\/"},"modified":"2026-03-03T16:35:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T16:35:12","slug":"valkyries-coach-natalie-nakase-broadcasts-warriors-clippers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/501545\/","title":{"rendered":"Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase broadcasts Warriors-Clippers"},"content":{"rendered":"

SAN FRANCISCO \u2014 On Monday night, Golden State Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase<\/a> \u2013 the ultra-firey, pace-the-sideline, clap-until-your-hands-hurt competitor \u2013 swapped her usual spot near the scorer\u2019s table for a headset and a monitor in the broadcast booth.<\/p>\n

The intensity that typically ricochets from the bench funneled through a microphone instead as Nakase stepped into the broadcast booth for the Golden State Warriors<\/a>\u2019 matchup with the Los Angeles Clippers, offering analysis rather than play calls.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Nakase shared the telecast with women\u2019s basketball icon Cheryl Miller, who said beforehand that her partner was \u201ca natural\u201d and already \u201crunning the show,\u201d joking that she even gave Nakase permission to let a little sideline-style fire slip through the mic.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"GoldenGolden State Valkyries head coach Natalie Nakase listens during a press conference with San Francisco Warriors 1969 draft pick Denise Long Rife, left, NBC Sports and Athletics broadcaster Jenny Cavnar and Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer Cheryl Miller, not pictured, during a press conference before the Warriors NBA game against the LA Clippers at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Monday, March 2, 2026. (Jane Tyska\/Bay Area News Group)\u00a0<\/p>\n

The assignment also carried personal weight.<\/p>\n

Opposite the Warriors\u2019 bench stood Clippers coach Tyronn Lue, Nakase\u2019s longtime mentor. For one night, the coach known for her edge and emotion wasn\u2019t diagramming plays for the longtime NBA coach. She was dissecting them, bringing the same competitive spark from the hardwood to the headset.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a full-circle moment,\u201d Nakase said of Lue before Monday\u2019s game. \u201cI\u2019ll get to learn again because I get to see him in action, so that\u2019ll be fun. \u2026 I owe him a lot and he\u2019s a huge reason why I wear this hat today.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

And once the ball went up, the gratitude and perspective came through in real time.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The 45-year-old coach layered the broadcast with personal insight, explaining to the viewers how Lue taught her the value of patience.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She broke down Steve Kerr\u2019s pick-and-roll defense, praising the discipline behind the Warriors\u2019 defensive rotations, and offered a coach\u2019s eye view of what made the defense click.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"NBCNBC Sports and Athletics broadcaster Jenny Cavnar, Warriors 1969 draft pick Denise Long Rife, Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer Cheryl Miller and Golden State Valkyries head coach Natalie Nakase, from left, pose with jerseys during a press conference before the Warriors NBA game against the LA Clippers at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Monday, March 2, 2026. (Jane Tyska\/Bay Area News Group)\u00a0<\/p>\n

When big man Al Horford swatted away a shot in the second quarter, Nakase cracked a joke about how the veteran still had a little bounce in his game, blending the humor with her appreciation for his longevity.<\/p>\n

Nakase also made sure to get a laugh out of herself when the broadcast suddenly showed a picture of her back in her UCLA playing days. Miller pointed out that Nakase\u2019s shorts looked more like sweatpants, to which she said, \u201cYou guys are embarrassing me.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

When the conversation switched to Steph Curry\u2019s absence<\/a>, Nakase spoke like someone who knows the aches of waiting. She noted how she believed Curry was \u201cdying to get out there,\u201d then later in the game, drew a parallel to the Valkyries\u2019 own stretch without All-Star Kayla Thornton.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was our leader. She was our defensive stopper. So nothing can replace KT. We all had to do it collectively,\u201d Nakase said on the broadcast. \u201cCredit again, to my brilliant staff, but also to the players for being coachable. We coached them hard. They didn\u2019t mind it. They didn\u2019t mind me yelling at them, cursing at them, because they wanted to win. They wanted to win at any cost.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"NBCNBC Sports and Athletics broadcaster Jenny Cavnar, Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer Cheryl Miller and Golden State Valkyries head coach Natalie Nakase, from right, pose for photos during a press conference before the Golden State Warriors NBA game against the LA Clippers at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Monday, March 2, 2026. (Jane Tyska\/Bay Area News Group)\u00a0<\/p>\n

For Valkyries fans, that perspective, and her visible presence on an NBA stage, felt like more than a one-night cameo. With ongoing WNBA collective bargaining negotiations casting uncertainty over next season and raising the possibility of a potential lockout, Nakase\u2019s appearance offered a tangible reminder of what\u2019s ahead: A franchise still building, still preparing and still pushing forward.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Even against the unsettled backdrop, Nakase isn\u2019t operating as if anything is on pause. She said her staff is already deep into the offseason preparation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just had our coaches retreat,\u201d Nakase said. \u201cI killed my coaches in the mornings. We had morning workouts. We did some on the stairs. We did some yoga. We did some beach walking, and then just enjoyed the sun. I gave them a little bit of relaxation, a little bit of Vitamin D. But we\u2019re ready. We\u2019re gearing up.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Even from a different vantage point, Nakase\u2019s presence resonated.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For one night, the roles were flipped. The former assistant was studying her mentor from above instead of alongside him. The coach known for pacing the sideline was now narrating it. But the respect between them remains unchanged, the connection still evident in the way they spoke about each other.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s always great to see Natalie,\u201d Lue said before the game. \u201cHer (broadcasting) the game is something different. But as I said, it is full circle, and it\u2019s always great to see Natalie.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN FRANCISCO \u2014 On Monday night, Golden State Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase \u2013 the ultra-firey, pace-the-sideline, clap-until-your-hands-hurt competitor…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":501546,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[402,3805,2356,4804,2243,10831,2558,355,10836,5284,10838,99,434],"class_list":{"0":"post-501545","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wnba","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-bay-area","10":"tag-california","11":"tag-golden-state-valkyries","12":"tag-golden-state-warriors","13":"tag-inside-sports","14":"tag-latest-headlines","15":"tag-nba","16":"tag-peninsula","17":"tag-san-francisco","18":"tag-san-francisco-county","19":"tag-sports","20":"tag-wnba"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/501545","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=501545"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/501545\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/501546"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=501545"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=501545"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=501545"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}