Natalie Nakase Hired as Golden State Valkyries HC Ahead of Inaugural WNBA Season

Natalie Nakase has been named head coach of the Golden State Valkyries ahead of the team's inaugural WNBA season.

Nakase previously worked in assistant coaching roles for the NBA's Los Angeles Clippers, the NBA G League's Agua Caliente Clippers and the WNBA's Las Vegas Aces.

The Valkyries, the first WNBA expansion franchise since 2008, are set to join the league for the 2025 season.

Nakase, a former UCLA point guard and the first Asian American player to compete in the National Women's Basketball League, began her coaching career in Germany and Japan.

After first joining the Clippers staff in 2012, Nakase was named a player development/assistant coach for the team under Doc Rivers in 2018.

Following two seasons as an assistant with the Clippers and one working with their developmental affiliate, Nakase joined the WNBA as first assistant coach for Becky Hammon, where she helped lead the Aces to back-to-back titles in 2022 and 2023.

With the Aces, Nakase was involved in decisions including "in-game adjustments, substitution rotations, end of game decisions, time out strategies, head coach's challenge usages, clock management and organizing the team on both ends of the court," according to the Valkyries.

Nakase called her first WNBA head coaching job "a lifelong dream come true."

"We are committed to building a winning culture of grit, hard work, and competitiveness," Nakase said in a statement. "We will strive to improve, compete, and ultimately bring home a championship for our fans and this organization."

Nakase does not yet know what her team will look like next season, as the Valkyries will need to wait until Dec. 6 to build their roster during the upcoming expansion draft.

Each of the dozen existing WNBA teams will be able to protect six players, after which Golden State will be able to select one unprotected player from each team.

Golden State will also get the opportunity to select a player from the 2025 WNBA draft next April, although their draft position has not yet been announced.

The team had already announced the hiring of Ohemaa Nyanin, the general manager who will lead the team through the expansion and college drafts, in May. Nyanin previously served as the assistant general manager for the New York Liberty.

The Valkyries are the WNBA affiliate of the NBA's Golden State Warriors. The league's 13th team is set to tip off their inaugural season at the Chase Center in San Francisco next spring.