SAN FRANCISCO – The Golden State Valkyries winning the WNBA Championship on Saturday night at Chase Center meant something to both coaches in Sunday’s game between the Golden State Warriors and the LA Clippers.
Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase spent 10 years working for the Clippers. She began as a video coordinator in 2012 under coach Vinny Del Negro. She worked her way up to working as an assistant coach and player-development coach with the Clippers’ G League affiliate and with the Clippers under current coach Ty Lue in 2018. She left the Clippers to join the WNBA’s Las Vegas Aces coaching staff in 2022 and was hired to coach the expansion Valkyries in Oct. 2024.
Lue said Nakase has several qualities that have made her a successful coach, winning a title in just the team’s second season.
“I think her passion – I think her ability to relate to the players and understand how to treat people, you know, that’s huge,” Lue said when asked about Nakase’s success.. “To take on a team that’s only been existing for two years and to do what she’s been able to do — just her personality and the way she treats people, and to get people to connect. She’s very good at that.”
Nakase also proved to be a winner and a champion before most expected. The Valkyries made the playoffs in their first season, and Nakase won 2025 WNBA Coach of the Year.
This season was the next level of success.
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When Warriors and Valkyries owner Joe Lacob said the Warriors would win a championship within five years of him taking control of the team, it actually took five years and happened in Steve Kerr’s first year as coach.
What Nakase pulled off is even more impressive. Lacob made the same five-year declaration when the Bay Area was awarded an expansion team, but no team in any North American major sport had ever won a title by its second season.
“We’re so excited for the Valkyries for Natalie, for everybody involved,” Kerr said. “It’s just an incredible turnaround from just having an expansion team without a name two years ago to within two years building this brand and winning a title, just remarkable.”
Kerr said the championship is a source of pride for many throughout Chase Center because the Warriors and Valkyries share the same arena. Warriors players regularly attend Valkyries games and have been supportive of the team’s success.
Kerr has developed his own connection with Nakase, too.
“We text quite a bit,” Kerr said. “I texted her after the game and when she took the job here a couple of years ago, she spent a lot of time with us in our staff meetings and just getting to know the lay of the land here at Chase. So, we all pull for each other.”
Beyond her coaching skills and ability to connect with players, Lue said Nakase is a good person who is also well-liked. He’s followed her coaching career and believes what she’s done says a lot about her dedication.
“It shows, if you work hard and do all the right things, great things will happen,” Lue said.
