{"id":550937,"date":"2026-03-28T18:57:17","date_gmt":"2026-03-28T18:57:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/550937\/"},"modified":"2026-03-28T18:57:17","modified_gmt":"2026-03-28T18:57:17","slug":"nola-henry-on-joining-the-las-vegas-aces-and-her-new-role","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/550937\/","title":{"rendered":"Nola Henry On Joining The Las Vegas Aces And Her New Role"},"content":{"rendered":"

After finishing the 2025 WNBA season with the Dallas Wings<\/a>, Nola Henry joins the Las Vegas Aces as an assistant coach. It presents an opportunity to join one of the WNBA\u2019s premier organizations at a time when the franchise is coming off a championship run.<\/p>\n

Henry detailed what drew her to join the Aces and how the process unfolded. For her, it was about finding the right fit \u2014 joining an organization where she could learn and grow alongside a staff that includes fellow assistants Charlene Thomas-Swinson, Larry Lewis, and Ty Ellis.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnytime you get to join an organization, such a high-level organization \u2014 honestly, the standard around our league \u2014 it\u2019s a privilege,\u201d Henry said. \u201cAnd so I\u2019ll treat it as such. It feels like an honor to be able to learn under Becky, obviously one of the greatest basketball minds. So I\u2019m excited to just learn and soak up all the knowledge from, honestly, everybody on staff. We got some guys who coach at different levels. You got NBA, you got G League, college, all of the things.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I just plan to, you know, try to make an impact and get in where I fit in, as well as just soak up some knowledge and just, you know, find ways to serve,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n

Service is a word she comes back to often, and it tracks with how she actually built her career. She didn\u2019t start on a coaching staff. She started as an intern with the Connecticut Sun in 2020, worked her way up to assistant basketball operations manager over two seasons, then moved into player development with the Los Angeles Sparks in 2023 before being elevated to assistant coach the following year. Before any of that, she was a graduate assistant at Fairleigh Dickinson and Hartford, and a two-year starter at the College of Charleston after transferring from UMass. Nothing was handed to her, and she makes no effort to obscure that.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, that\u2019s a great question. I think it\u2019s just a part of like not skipping steps,\u201d Henry said. \u201cI started as an intern in Connecticut and I then was equipment manager and then it just took root from there. Player development, assistant coach, all of the things. So it\u2019s obviously very humble beginnings, but I wouldn\u2019t have it any other way in terms of, you know, not having any handouts, working for every single thing. I take pride in that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Henry doesn\u2019t describe those early years as something she endured, but as something she was good at, and something most people never saw.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want any favors or anything like that. I think my work ethic will show for itself, and I\u2019ve really taken pride in that, just being an extremely hard worker,\u201d Henry said. \u201cAnd a lot of that is not always seen. Like when I was an intern, I was a hard worker. When I was equipment manager, I worked really hard as an equipment manager to make sure, you know, all the gear was correct. And then when I got an opportunity, you know, to be in a coaching position, that work ethic never changed.\u201d<\/p>\n

She went from equipment manager to head coach and back to assistant by choice \u2014 and the consistency she describes isn\u2019t just about effort. It\u2019s about how she measures her own contribution regardless of where her name sits on the staff sheet.<\/p>\n

\u201cSame thing as going from an assistant to a head coach. The one constant that I would say is just one, the work ethic and the grind behind the scenes, that it takes hours of film and, you know, studying the game,\u201d Henry said. \u201cBut then also just like serving, like in any position, how can I serve the players? That\u2019s what it\u2019s ultimately about. And then obviously, how can I serve, you know, the staff, the head coach, assistants? So it\u2019s been very much so work ethic. As well as just being a servant and just trying to make an impact there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Players notice. Henry mentioned Alyssa Thomas<\/a>, DeWanna Bonner<\/a> and Natisha Heideman \u2014 all players she worked with early in her career in Connecticut \u2014 as people who still tell her she hasn\u2019t changed. That kind of feedback isn\u2019t incidental to her. It\u2019s the metric she actually cares about.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then a lot of it is just being authentically myself and not changing,\u201d Henry said. \u201cPlayers can attest, like I talked to Alyssa Thomas still, and obviously DeWanna Bonner. Those are some players that I started with when I was in Connecticut, and they\u2019re like, wow, you really \u2014 and [Natisha] Heideman \u2014 you haven\u2019t changed this whole time. And it\u2019s like, yeah, the role has changed, but I still always stay true to who I am. Nothing has really much changed except for the titles.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her relationship with Hammon before all of this was essentially nonexistent beyond the kind of mutual awareness that builds over years of crossing paths at arenas. They\u2019d spoken in passing, shaken hands after games, acknowledged each other in hallways. Nothing deeper than that \u2014 until one specific moment in South Bend last year stuck with Henry in a way she still remembers clearly.<\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly, I didn\u2019t have a personal relationship with Becky prior to joining the staff,\u201d Henry said. \u201cThat all kind of came into fruition as I\u2019ve obviously always seen her on the road. We played against each other for the last several years, whether I was with the Sparks, Connecticut, or Dallas. And so I\u2019ve always admired her from a distance. I always spoke and just said hello in passing, shake hands after the game, all of the things.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hammon was direct about what she saw in Henry when the hire was announced.<\/p>\n

\u201cNola brings a fresh, young coaching perspective to our group this year,\u201d Hammon said. \u201cShe\u2019s a very cerebral coach who sees the game at a high level and the way she can connect with players on and off the court will be a valuable asset to our staff. She brings great energy to the group, along with a wealth of WNBA experience, and that will be advantageous as we seek our fourth championship this season.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Aces had come to Indiana for a preseason game during the first week of the Wings\u2019 schedule. After the final buzzer, Hammon sought Henry out.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I remember very vividly last year after winning Unrivaled when the first time we played the Aces, actually when it was during the preseason game when we were in Indiana, South Bend, she came up to me after the game and just was like, hey, congrats on Unrivaled,\u201d Henry said. \u201cAnd I just remember being super excited. Like, obviously I knew she watched Unrivaled because Chelsea Gray<\/a>, but it was still just such a \u2014 almost a surreal moment for me at that time to just be acknowledged by somebody I used to watch play as well as somebody that I admire from a coaching standpoint.\u201d<\/p>\n

Once Henry found out she wasn\u2019t returning to Dallas, she started making calls. The timing was awkward \u2014 Unrivaled was still running, she was in Miami \u2014 but the Aces came to her. Hammon and general manager Nikki Fargas made the trip down to watch Jackie Young<\/a> and Chelsea Gray, and Henry ended up at a table with both of them for what she described as a completely informal first conversation.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo from there, once I found that I wasn\u2019t going back to Dallas, I kind of just put some feelers out,\u201d Henry said. \u201cAnd just was trying to find where all the open opportunities would be. Obviously, we were down in Miami, so it was kind of hard in the middle of a Unrivaled season, but they came down to come and watch Jackie and Chelsea. And so I got an opportunity to just kind of meet with her and Nikki just around the table, just having conversation, super informal. And then from there, just took form in the terms of just an interview process.\u201d<\/p>\n

What followed surprised her \u2014 not because it was difficult, but because it was thorough in a way that most processes aren\u2019t. She flew to Las Vegas on an off day, went through the full interview, toured the facility. She was also talking to other teams at the same time, and Vegas stood apart specifically because of how seriously they took the evaluation.<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring Unrivaled, during the off day, I flew out to Vegas, had the opportunity to go through the entire interview process, which they were very thorough,\u201d Henry said. \u201cSo I respected that a lot. Had the opportunity, like I said, fly out, see Vegas, feel Vegas, experience the organization, see the practice facility, all of the things. And then from there, it was just a matter of if I had the opportunity, I knew it was something that I wouldn\u2019t pass on.\u201d<\/p>\n

The diligence read to her as a sign of organizational culture, not just protocol.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow diligent it was, because obviously I was interviewing with multiple different teams and Vegas was just like so diligent in the process in terms of just doing their due diligence, making sure, you know, every I was dotted and every T was crossed,\u201d Henry said. \u201cAnd it was, it was extremely thorough, which I respected a lot because it was like, okay, you\u2019re, you\u2019re really trying, you\u2019re really sifting through people to try to figure out, you know, in a way who best fits what you\u2019re looking for.\u201d<\/p>\n

She continued: \u201cNo cutting corners, no skipping steps. Like, I went through a pretty, you know, I wouldn\u2019t say extensive, but maybe extensive interview process. And that to me just made me have even more respect for the organization because it\u2019s like, okay, now I understand. I completely understand why it\u2019s a championship organization because of, you know, how thorough it is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Part of what makes Las Vegas appealing on a personal level is that Henry already has a working relationship with one of its key players. She coached Chelsea Gray during Unrivaled and describes their dynamic less as coach-player and more as two basketball minds who genuinely enjoy talking through the game together.<\/p>\n

\u201cChelsea, obviously amazing person, amazing player, someone who I have a high level of respect for,\u201d Henry said. \u201cSo I continue \u2014 I anticipate it will be more of the same. Just two people that love basketball, love winning, love talking about basketball, love thinking the game, just kind of bouncing ideas off of each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

That kind of back-and-forth is central to how Henry thinks about her job at this level \u2014 not directives flowing one way, but an ongoing dialogue across the full shape of a season.<\/p>\n

\u201cTouching base on just concepts, themes, all of the things that, you know, go \u2014 that you go through throughout the course of a season, culture things, schemes, strategies, all the things,\u201d Henry said. \u201cSo I anticipated being more of that as well as obviously I\u2019ll be in a little bit of a different role, but this is kind of the role that I enjoy the most. Being a head coach is cool, but I like the assistant side of things because I like to kind of be behind the scenes grinding.\u201d<\/p>\n

She was asked whether she\u2019d be focused on a specific area of the Aces\u2019 program. Her answer was immediate and unsurprising, given everything else she\u2019d said: whatever is needed.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot necessarily. I think anytime any organization, any coaching staff is usually all hands on deck,\u201d Henry said. \u201cI\u2019m sure I\u2019ll have a hand in a variety of different things, whether that\u2019s on the court with players as well as other assistant coaches and the player development coach, as well as some scouting stuff. Just all of the things being an assistant coach. There\u2019s a lot of roles and responsibilities. They\u2019re not \u2014 it\u2019s not really a one thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Building relationships with players is a longer process than most people outside the game realize, and Henry is deliberate about not rushing it. She spent last season working closely with Paige Bueckers<\/a> and Arike Ogunbowale<\/a> in Dallas, and she\u2019s clear that what made those relationships work wasn\u2019t any particular coaching moment \u2014 it was proximity and time.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou just got to kind of be ready to do whatever, offense, defense, wherever I\u2019m needed,\u201d Henry said. \u201cThat\u2019s kind of been my approach \u2014 there\u2019s no task too big, no task too small. I\u2019ll do whatever. So whatever Becky needs me to do is what I\u2019m gonna do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Building relationships with players is a longer process than most people outside the game realize, and Henry is deliberate about not rushing it. She spent last season working closely with Paige Bueckers and Arike Ogunbowale in Dallas, and she\u2019s clear that what made those relationships work wasn\u2019t any particular coaching moment \u2014 it was proximity and time.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, Paige and Arike, two really good players that I have a high level of respect for, not just as players but as people,\u201d Henry said. \u201cThose are two people that I built relationships with and so I expect more of the same. It takes time to build relationships with players, and it\u2019s not something that you rush or try to \u2014 that I\u2019ve ever tried to rush or force. It\u2019s something that just happens naturally.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said the rhythm of a season helps those relationships take shape.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs you know, going through the course of a basketball season, what people don\u2019t really understand is you\u2019re together every single day,\u201d Henry said. \u201cSo naturally, those relationships kind of unfold, whether it\u2019s in practice, you\u2019re given a tip on this, or in film you say this, or maybe, you know, on the plane, whatever the case is. There\u2019s a lot of opportunity to just kind of build relationships.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Las Vegas, the roster she\u2019s walking into includes A\u2019ja Wilson<\/a> and Jackie Young \u2014 two of the best players in the league. She\u2019s excited to coach them. She\u2019s also, characteristically, excited to get to know them.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd so I\u2019m excited to coach A\u2019ja Wilson. I\u2019m excited to coach Jackie Young, but I\u2019m also excited to build relationships with them as people and as human first,\u201d Henry said.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a wrinkle to the early part of the Aces\u2019 schedule worth noting. Las Vegas and Dallas are set to meet in preseason at Moody Center in Austin on May 3, and Henry \u2014 who spent an entire season inside the Wings\u2019 program \u2014 will be on the opposing bench with a detailed read on exactly how their players operate.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m excited to be in Austin. Obviously, I think that\u2019s the first time the WNBA teams have played there,\u201d Henry said. \u201cAnd so I\u2019m excited to be a part of that and just be in Austin.\u201d<\/p>\n

She didn\u2019t dance around what that familiarity means competitively.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously there\u2019s a mutual respect between the players that I coached on the Wings and myself, but I\u2019m going to obviously do the best that I can to give the most detail-oriented scout of the Dallas Wings because I do have experience with them,\u201d Henry said. \u201cI think that that\u2019s an area where I can, you know, give us a little bit of a competitive edge with knowing all of the players\u2019 tendencies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jose Fernandez brought in an entirely new staff in Dallas, but Henry\u2019s point is that schemes change faster than habits do.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, it\u2019s a new system with Jose coming in, but the players\u2019 tendencies aren\u2019t changing, and I know them pretty well because I spent an entire season working with them,\u201d Henry said. \u201cSo I\u2019m excited to go to Dallas and try to beat up on them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her season with the Wings gave her extended reps alongside high-level players at a critical stage of her coaching development and set her up to make an impact for a championship organization from day one. Now, in Las Vegas, the environment she described will be thorough, demanding, and built on daily accountability. <\/p>\n

After spending the 2025 WNBA season with the Dallas Wings, Nola Henry is joining the Las Vegas Aces as an assistant coach, stepping into one of the WNBA\u2019s premier organizations coming off a championship run.<\/p>\n

Henry sat down recently to talk about the move. She explained what drew her to Las Vegas, how the process unfolded, and what she plans to bring to this next chapter. For her, it was never about chasing a bigger title. It was about finding the right fit. She wanted a place where she could learn and grow.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnytime you get to join an organization, such a high-level organization \u2014 honestly, the standard around our league \u2014 it\u2019s a privilege. And so I\u2019ll treat it as such. It feels like an honor to be able to learn under Becky, obviously one of the greatest basketball minds. So I\u2019m excited to just learn and soak up all the knowledge from, honestly, everybody on staff. We got some guys who coach at different levels. You got NBA, you got G League, college, all of the things.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I just plan to, you know, try to make an impact and get in where I fit in, as well as just soak up some knowledge and just, you know, find ways to serve,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n

Service is a word she comes back to often, and it tracks with how she actually built her career. She didn\u2019t start on a coaching staff. She started as an intern with the Connecticut Sun in 2020, worked her way up to assistant basketball operations manager over two seasons, then moved into player development with the Los Angeles Sparks in 2023 before being elevated to assistant coach the following year. Before any of that, she was a graduate assistant at Fairleigh Dickinson and Hartford, and a two-year starter at the College of Charleston after transferring from UMass. Nothing was handed to her, and she makes no effort to obscure that.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, that\u2019s a great question. I think it\u2019s just a part of like not skipping steps,\u201d Henry said. \u201cI started as an intern in Connecticut and I then was equipment manager and then it just took root from there. Player development, assistant coach, all of the things. So it\u2019s obviously very humble beginnings, but I wouldn\u2019t have it any other way in terms of, you know, not having any handouts, working for every single thing. I take pride in that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Henry doesn\u2019t describe those early years as something she endured, but as something she was good at, and something most people never saw.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want any favors or anything like that. I think my work ethic will show for itself, and I\u2019ve really taken pride in that, just being an extremely hard worker,\u201d Henry said. \u201cAnd a lot of that is not always seen. Like when I was an intern, I was a hard worker. When I was equipment manager, I worked really hard as an equipment manager to make sure, you know, all the gear was correct. And then when I got an opportunity, you know, to be in a coaching position, that work ethic never changed.\u201d<\/p>\n

She went from equipment manager to head coach and back to assistant by choice \u2014 and the consistency she describes isn\u2019t just about effort. It\u2019s about how she measures her own contribution regardless of where her name sits on the staff sheet.<\/p>\n

\u201cSame thing as going from an assistant to a head coach. The one constant that I would say is just one, the work ethic and the grind behind the scenes, that it takes hours of film and, you know, studying the game,\u201d Henry said. \u201cBut then also just like serving, like in any position, how can I serve the players? That\u2019s what it\u2019s ultimately about. And then obviously, how can I serve, you know, the staff, the head coach, assistants? So it\u2019s been very much so work ethic. As well as just being a servant and just trying to make an impact there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Players notice. Henry mentioned Alyssa Thomas, DeWanna Bonner and Natisha Heideman \u2014 all players she worked with early in her career in Connecticut \u2014 as people who still tell her she hasn\u2019t changed. That kind of feedback isn\u2019t incidental to her. It\u2019s the metric she actually cares about.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then a lot of it is just being authentically myself and not changing,\u201d Henry said. \u201cPlayers can attest, like I talked to Alyssa Thomas still, and obviously DeWanna Bonner. Those are some players that I started with when I was in Connecticut, and they\u2019re like, wow, you really \u2014 and [Natisha] Heideman \u2014 you haven\u2019t changed this whole time. And it\u2019s like, yeah, the role has changed, but I still always stay true to who I am. Nothing has really much changed except for the titles.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her relationship with Hammon before all of this was essentially nonexistent beyond the kind of mutual awareness that builds over years of crossing paths at arenas. They\u2019d spoken in passing, shaken hands after games, acknowledged each other in hallways. Nothing deeper than that \u2014 until one specific moment in South Bend last year stuck with Henry in a way she still remembers clearly.<\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly, I didn\u2019t have a personal relationship with Becky prior to joining the staff,\u201d Henry said. \u201cThat all kind of came into fruition as I\u2019ve obviously always seen her on the road. We played against each other for the last several years, whether I was with the Sparks, Connecticut, or Dallas. And so I\u2019ve always admired her from a distance. I always spoke and just said hello in passing, shake hands after the game, all of the things.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hammon was direct about what she saw in Henry when the hire was announced.<\/p>\n

\u201cNola brings a fresh, young coaching perspective to our group this year,\u201d Hammon said. \u201cShe\u2019s a very cerebral coach who sees the game at a high level and the way she can connect with players on and off the court will be a valuable asset to our staff. She brings great energy to the group, along with a wealth of WNBA experience, and that will be advantageous as we seek our fourth championship this season.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Aces had come to Indiana for a preseason game during the first week of the Wings\u2019 schedule. After the final buzzer, Hammon sought Henry out.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I remember very vividly last year after winning Unrivaled when the first time we played the Aces, actually when it was during the preseason game when we were in Indiana, South Bend, she came up to me after the game and just was like, hey, congrats on Unrivaled,\u201d Henry said. \u201cAnd I just remember being super excited. Like, obviously I knew she watched Unrivaled because Chelsea Gray, but it was still just such a \u2014 almost a surreal moment for me at that time to just be acknowledged by somebody I used to watch play as well as somebody that I admire from a coaching standpoint.\u201d<\/p>\n

Once Henry found out she wasn\u2019t returning to Dallas, she started making calls. The timing was awkward \u2014 Unrivaled was still running, she was in Miami \u2014 but the Aces came to her. Hammon and general manager Nikki Fargas made the trip down to watch Jackie Young and Chelsea Gray, and Henry ended up at a table with both of them for what she described as a completely informal first conversation.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo from there, once I found that I wasn\u2019t going back to Dallas, I kind of just put some feelers out,\u201d Henry said. \u201cAnd just was trying to find where all the open opportunities would be. Obviously, we were down in Miami, so it was kind of hard in the middle of a Unrivaled season, but they came down to come and watch Jackie and Chelsea. And so I got an opportunity to just kind of meet with her and Nikki just around the table, just having conversation, super informal. And then from there, just took form in the terms of just an interview process.\u201d<\/p>\n

What followed surprised her \u2014 not because it was difficult, but because it was thorough in a way that most processes aren\u2019t. She flew to Las Vegas on an off day, went through the full interview, toured the facility. She was also talking to other teams at the same time, and Vegas stood apart specifically because of how seriously they took the evaluation.<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring Unrivaled, during the off day, I flew out to Vegas, had the opportunity to go through the entire interview process, which they were very thorough,\u201d Henry said. \u201cSo I respected that a lot. Had the opportunity, like I said, fly out, see Vegas, feel Vegas, experience the organization, see the practice facility, all of the things. And then from there, it was just a matter of if I had the opportunity, I knew it was something that I wouldn\u2019t pass on.\u201d<\/p>\n

The diligence read to her as a sign of organizational culture, not just protocol.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow diligent it was, because obviously I was interviewing with multiple different teams and Vegas was just like so diligent in the process in terms of just doing their due diligence, making sure, you know, every I was dotted and every T was crossed,\u201d Henry said. \u201cAnd it was, it was extremely thorough, which I respected a lot because it was like, okay, you\u2019re, you\u2019re really trying, you\u2019re really sifting through people to try to figure out, you know, in a way who best fits what you\u2019re looking for.\u201d<\/p>\n

She continued: \u201cNo cutting corners, no skipping steps. Like, I went through a pretty, you know, I wouldn\u2019t say extensive, but maybe extensive interview process. And that to me just made me have even more respect for the organization because it\u2019s like, okay, now I understand. I completely understand why it\u2019s a championship organization because of, you know, how thorough it is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Part of what makes Las Vegas appealing on a personal level is that Henry already has a working relationship with one of its key players. She coached Chelsea Gray during Unrivaled and describes their dynamic less as coach-player and more as two basketball minds who genuinely enjoy talking through the game together.<\/p>\n

\u201cChelsea, obviously amazing person, amazing player, someone who I have a high level of respect for,\u201d Henry said. \u201cSo I continue \u2014 I anticipate it will be more of the same. Just two people that love basketball, love winning, love talking about basketball, love thinking the game, just kind of bouncing ideas off of each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

That kind of back-and-forth is central to how Henry thinks about her job at this level \u2014 not directives flowing one way, but an ongoing dialogue across the full shape of a season.<\/p>\n

\u201cTouching base on just concepts, themes, all of the things that, you know, go \u2014 that you go through throughout the course of a season, culture things, schemes, strategies, all the things,\u201d Henry said. \u201cSo I anticipated being more of that as well as obviously I\u2019ll be in a little bit of a different role, but this is kind of the role that I enjoy the most. Being a head coach is cool, but I like the assistant side of things because I like to kind of be behind the scenes grinding.\u201d<\/p>\n

She was asked whether she\u2019d be focused on a specific area of the Aces\u2019 program. Her answer was immediate and unsurprising, given everything else she\u2019d said: whatever is needed.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot necessarily. I think anytime any organization, any coaching staff is usually all hands on deck,\u201d Henry said. \u201cI\u2019m sure I\u2019ll have a hand in a variety of different things, whether that\u2019s on the court with players as well as other assistant coaches and the player development coach, as well as some scouting stuff. Just all of the things being an assistant coach. There\u2019s a lot of roles and responsibilities. They\u2019re not \u2014 it\u2019s not really a one thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Building relationships with players is a longer process than most people outside the game realize, and Henry is deliberate about not rushing it. She spent last season working closely with Paige Bueckers and Arike Ogunbowale in Dallas, and she\u2019s clear that what made those relationships work wasn\u2019t any particular coaching moment \u2014 it was proximity and time.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou just got to kind of be ready to do whatever, offense, defense, wherever I\u2019m needed,\u201d Henry said. \u201cThat\u2019s kind of been my approach \u2014 there\u2019s no task too big, no task too small. I\u2019ll do whatever. So whatever Becky needs me to do is what I\u2019m gonna do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Building relationships with players is a longer process than most people outside the game realize, and Henry is deliberate about not rushing it. She spent last season working closely with Paige Bueckers and Arike Ogunbowale in Dallas, and she\u2019s clear that what made those relationships work wasn\u2019t any particular coaching moment \u2014 it was proximity and time.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, Paige and Arike, two really good players that I have a high level of respect for, not just as players but as people,\u201d Henry said. \u201cThose are two people that I built relationships with and so I expect more of the same. It takes time to build relationships with players, and it\u2019s not something that you rush or try to \u2014 that I\u2019ve ever tried to rush or force. It\u2019s something that just happens naturally.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said the rhythm of a season helps those relationships take shape.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs you know, going through the course of a basketball season, what people don\u2019t really understand is you\u2019re together every single day,\u201d Henry said. \u201cSo naturally, those relationships kind of unfold, whether it\u2019s in practice, you\u2019re given a tip on this, or in film you say this, or maybe, you know, on the plane, whatever the case is. There\u2019s a lot of opportunity to just kind of build relationships.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Las Vegas, the roster she\u2019s walking into includes A\u2019ja Wilson and Jackie Young \u2014 two of the best players in the league. She\u2019s excited to coach them. She\u2019s also characteristically excited to get to know them.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd so I\u2019m excited to coach A\u2019ja Wilson. I\u2019m excited to coach Jackie Young, but I\u2019m also excited to build relationships with them as people and as human first,\u201d Henry said.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a wrinkle to the early part of the Aces\u2019 schedule worth noting. Las Vegas and Dallas are set to meet in preseason at Moody Center in Austin, and Henry \u2014 who spent an entire season inside the Wings\u2019 program \u2014 will be on the opposing bench with a detailed read on exactly how their players operate.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m excited to be in Austin. Obviously, I think that\u2019s the first time the WNBA teams have played there,\u201d Henry said. \u201cAnd so I\u2019m excited to be a part of that and just be in Austin.\u201d<\/p>\n

She didn\u2019t dance around what that familiarity means competitively.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously there\u2019s a mutual respect between the players that I coached on the Wings and myself, but I\u2019m going to obviously do the best that I can to give the most detail-oriented scout of the Dallas Wings because I do have experience with them,\u201d Henry said. \u201cI think that that\u2019s an area where I can, you know, give us a little bit of a competitive edge with knowing all of the players\u2019 tendencies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jose Fernandez brought in an entirely new staff in Dallas, but Henry\u2019s point is that schemes change faster than habits do.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, it\u2019s a new system with Jose coming in, but the players\u2019 tendencies aren\u2019t changing, and I know them pretty well because I spent an entire season working with them,\u201d Henry said. \u201cSo I\u2019m excited to go to Dallas and try to beat up on them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her year with the Wings did more than add a line to her r\u00e9sum\u00e9. It gave her extended reps with high-level players at a critical stage of her coaching development, and it set her up to walk into a championship organization with something concrete to offer from day one.<\/p>\n

Now in Las Vegas, the environment she described throughout this conversation \u2014 thorough, demanding, built on accountability \u2014 is the one she\u2019ll be operating in every day. That doesn\u2019t seem to concern her. If anything, it sounds exactly like what she was looking for.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After finishing the 2025 WNBA season with the Dallas Wings, Nola Henry joins the Las Vegas Aces as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":550938,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[99,434],"class_list":["post-550937","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-sports","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/550937","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=550937"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/550937\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/550938"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=550937"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=550937"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=550937"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}