Natalie Nakase: Breaking Barriers and Shaping the Future of the WNBA

As the WNBA's first expansion team in 17 years, the Golden State Valkyries made their own mark in the history books in their very first game on May 16. That's when Natalie Nakase officially became the first Asian-American to coach a game in the WNBA.

At just over 5-foot-1, Nakase is not the prototypical basketball player or coach. She began her career as a walk-on guard at UCLA, eventually earning the starting job her junior year and becoming team captain. She played professionally in the National Women's Basketball League. But when the league shut down and Nakase failed to make a roster in the WNBA, she went overseas to continue her playing career. She pivoted to coaching after a career-ending knee injury, and spent time in Germany and Japan before she returned to the United States to become a video intern for the LA Clippers. She spent a decade in the NBA and ultimately was named an assistant coach for the Clippers.

In 2022, Nakase was hired as an assistant coach in the WNBA under Becky Hammon, and they led the Las Vegas Aces to the first back-to-back WNBA championships in 21 years.

Nakase, who was named the Valkyries' coach in October, is off to a 2-2 start, with her team notching its first victory at home on May 21. Nakase recently sat down with ESPN to talk about her journey to the head coaching job and the impact her father and other mentors have played in her life.

Expectations for the Season

Nakase: We are a brand-new team, it's going to take time and so I'm really allowing our girls space to process the season day by day. I'm trying to get them to get the mindset of, let's just get 1% better every single day, just be in control of what we can control.

And I think that takes a lot of -- I hate the word pressure -- but just some high expectations off their shoulders. I just want them to play with joy.

Creating a Joyful Environment

We've seen some clips of the players dancing and jumping around pregame. Is that the joy you're talking about?

Nakase: We have a lot of overseas players; of course they're going to be anxious and nervous. So on the first day of camp I told my staff, "We're going to have to dance. We're going to have to just shake things up, make a fool of ourselves and get them to laugh."

At first the staff didn't want to, but I told them we had to shake things up and get the players out of their comfort zone. So I sent the assistant coaches a clip of this dance and I told them to be ready to go.

The next morning I asked if they were ready and they're like, "Coach, we've been practicing all night!"

And we just gave the players a little dance.

Mentorship and Legacy

You've said your father, Gary Nakase, heavily impacted your career. You posted on Instagram about visiting his grave site after winning your first WNBA championship. Did you visit him after you got this job?

Nakase: Oh, that got me quick. [Pause] I didn't have time, which is really unfortunate. His birthday was Oct. 20. [The Valkyries hired Nakase on Oct. 10.] I was trying to get there, but I had to make the move to San Francisco, make the transition and dive into this job.

The anniversary of his death is coming soon. But I'm built for this and he would've said that, too. My dad cusses, so he would've said, "Nat, you don't need to f---ing visit me. I don't need no f---ing flowers." He hates flowers. He'd say, "Just go do your work. Go focus on your goal."

He just always wanted to just be behind the scenes, but pushed me in ways where he knew I could stand on my own.

Learning from the Best

What have some of your mentors advised you about the job?

Nakase: [Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball coach and former Clippers assistant] Armond Hill has been a huge mentor for me. He was with me the first week of training camp and I had a bad practice. I could tell. Well, I could tell because he told me right after. He let me know everything that I did wrong and he was right on point.

So that night I stayed up till 3 o'clock in the morning and worked on what I needed to do. It's tough love. It's kind of like the same mentality from my dad. [Hill] knows where I'm weak and he's going to push me and call me out for those weaknesses.

I actually hit up [Boston Celtics coach] Joe Mazzula as well, and his line is: "Don't be afraid to die."

It's a little bit more dark, but it's the same idea: Take big risks. This is your first year. Go ahead, go all out but understand when you take big risks, you just have got to be ready to take the fall and learn from it. You could have success and you could have failure at the same time, and that's the beauty of what we get to do every day.

The Winning Mentality

You won two championships with the Aces under coach Becky Hammon. What did you learn about that winning mentality that you can bring here?

Nakase: That winning is tough. Winning takes a lot. I know people like to say winning takes a lot of luck, but I think you prepare your luck. So I would say those two years that we won, I've never worked as hard in my life. Becky really pushed me to do that, but she also challenged me and constantly asked me, "Nat, challenge me. Here's the game plan, pick it apart." No coach has ever said that. Most head coaches are like, this is my game plan, deal with it. But she wanted me to pick it apart.

At the end of the day, she doesn't sleep, either. She stays up until 2 or 3 o'clock in the morning. We're constantly thinking about basketball, constantly thinking how we can get better. We want to be No. 1. What does that look like?

I'll be forever grateful for her because those two years were the toughest. But honestly, it was the best basketball experience of my life.

Working with High-Caliber Players

You worked with Chris Paul and A'ja Wilson. What does working with players of that caliber do for you as a coach?

Nakase: High-caliber players, they make me better. When I met Chris Paul, he told me he watches every single NBA game. So I told myself, "I have to watch every single game too."

What I learned from that is it gave me a pathway to talk to him. I would text him, "Hey, this game right now, it's a two-point game. What are you doing in this situation?"

I knew he was watching so he would give me feedback like, "This is what I look for. This is what I do." I got to learn from one of the best point guards in the world at that time.

A'ja Wilson is probably the most humble star I've ever been around. She always wanted to impact the next generation. I asked why that is so important to her and she said it's because there's not that many powerful black female athletes. And when I saw her and the way she spoke about it, she doesn't care if she's the No. 1 player in the world, she doesn't care that she gets all these accolades and attention. She cares about how she's going to leave her footprint into this world. That's what I love about A'ja.

Inspiring the Next Generation

Growing up, there was no one that looked like you or me playing this sport. What does it mean to you that little kids now have you to look at?

Nakase: It means the world to me. I actually never really voiced that, but it does mean the world. And I felt that during the first preseason game. You think about it, but when it actually comes to fruition and you're looking around and you see 17,000 fans that you get to impact in two hours, that's pretty iconic in a way. But I've learned that's really not why I'm the first. I got to make sure I'm not the last.