The Golden State Valkyries Hire Natalie Nakase

Thursday brought the announcement that Golden State fans had been waiting for as the Valkyries announced that they had hired Las Vegas Aces assistant coach Natalie Nakase to be the first head coach in team history. Fans had been patiently waiting for the announcement after GM Ohemaa Nyanin made it clear that the hiring process would start soon after she assumed her role. It became likely based on the timing that they were considering a coach who had a position within the WNBA already and this announcement comes shortly after the Las Vegas Aces saw their season end. Given that Nakase would have had interest from other WNBA teams who are not retaining their coaches, the team managed to secure her hiring as soon as possible.

Nakase’s Background

Nakase is a California native, having grown up in Orange County before walking on at UCLA and playing her way into the lineup. She had a brief professional career including a stint with the San Jose Spiders of the defunct NWBL, but injuries accelerated her movement into coaching. She got her start as a head coach in Germany after not being able to play and then headed to Japan as an assistant in the men’s league. She ended up as an interim head coach there and then started her NBA journey with the Los Angeles Clippers. After working her way up in the organization for years, she started receiving interest for WNBA head coaching roles, ultimately starting as an assistant with the Las Vegas Aces. With two championships with the team right away, it was no surprise that she got more concrete interest and this first opportunity as a head coach in the league during this season.

This ownership group has had a history of successful unexpected picks for head coach for the Warriors, but the team went with one of the more conventional picks to lead the Valkyries. Being able to hire a coach with international, NBA, and WNBA experience means that Nakase will be able to bring in knowledge from some of the latest developments all around the basketball landscape while already being familiar with the current teams and players. It is also rare that a younger coach has already been able to have a variety of experiences, including as a head coach. The team emphasized their goals to be competitive early and to win a championship by the end of the decade and bringing in an assistant from the last two champions is the latest demonstration of their intent.

Assistant Coaches

Now that a head coach has been named, work can begin on filling out the rest of the coaching staff. This ownership group has consistently made it clear that spending on a head coach should be complemented by spending on assembling the strongest support staff possible so there should be an expectation that this team will be competitive in this market. Nakase’s experience in multiple basketball environments should give her a knowledge of different benefits that different kinds of experience can provide while her time in the WNBA means that the staff will not need to only be WNBA veterans. Given that NBA teams do not have coach limits like the WNBA or college and the competition for moving up in responsibilities there, it would certainly be reasonable that an assistant coach comes directly from there like Nakase did for her first experience in the league. Recently retired former players, current WNBA assistants looking to move into a role with more responsibilities, and college assistants are going to be key places to look, but it would also not be surprising to bring in a coach with only international experience.

Building the Roster

Now that the key basketball operations positions have been filled, the focus can move on to building a roster. Ohemaa Nyanin revealed that she and Vanja Cernevic have already started strategizing about the expansion draft process and will now be able to present their ideas to Nakase to get more opinions. Having a coach with WNBA experience will certainly help in the process of evaluating which players available through both the expansion draft and free agency should be targeted. Nakase also mentioned that the team having good facilities will help them be a draw for free agents. The league also announced more details about next season today, dashing fans hopes of a more favorable draft position by announcing that the team would get picks 5, 17, and 30 in the entry draft.