Meet Natalie Nakase, the WNBA’s First Asian American Head Coach (Exclusive)

Natalie Nakase will make history as the first Asian American head coach in the WNBA when the upcoming season tips off in May.

For Nakase, 44, head coach of the newest addition to the WNBA, the Golden State Valkyries, being the first Asian American to lead a team is “a great responsibility,” she tells PEOPLE. “I don’t want to just be the first. I want to be legendary.”

“I just don’t want to be the first and hopefully, this will open the doors for a lot of Asian Americans who want to coach,” adds Nakase, whose résumé includes assistant coaching stints with the LA Clippers and Las Vegas Aces.

Landing the role as the Valkyries’ inaugural coach was a “long” process, says Nakase. “I got interviewed during the Olympic break, so it’s been a long process. I had a lengthy, lengthy interview.”

And during her first lunch with team owner Joe Lacob, Nakase says he told her “within the first ten minutes” of their meeting: “‘You’re going to have to win in five years.'”

“And I’m like, ‘Alright, let’s go,'” says Nakase, who was impressed with Lacob’s work ethic. “He told me a lot about his background too, of how he became successful and how he just works really, really hard and he just focuses on the goal.”

Nakase feels as though Lacob and his team have “set me up for success” in the early days of the team’s birth.

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Former Aces fan-favorite Kate Martin — Caitlin Clark’s former Hawkeyes teammate who was surprised to hear her name at the 2024 WNBA Draft — will play for the Valkyries in their inaugural season. “We’ve built a really close relationship,” Nakase tells PEOPLE of Martin, describing her as a “culture changer” for the organization.

“When Kate walks into the arena or she walks into the practice, you feel her and you hear her because she’s really loud, because she comes with so much energy,” says Nakase.

“I’m really excited because every day I know I’m going to have a really competitive player every single day that I can count on.”

After the team was announced last year, marking the first WNBA expansion team since 2008, the Valkyries surpassed 20,000 season ticket deposits. “That’s awesome,” says Nakase.

“That commitment from our fans already, and this was before we did the expansion draft, so just seeing all the excitement already without having a full team to me shows the commitment and it just shows how much energy and work and passion that I have to bring to the game because they’ve invested, then I want to invest too.”

The Golden State Valkyries will play their first game on May 16 at Chase Center when they host Kelsey Plum and the Los Angeles Sparks.