WNBA: Golden State Valkyries hire Natalie Nakase as head coach

On Thursday, the Golden State Valkyries named the franchise’s first head coach, 44-year old Natalie Nakase.

Nakase arrives from the Las Vegas Aces, where she served for three years as an assistant coach, helping the team win back-to-back championships in 2022 and 2023. The California native who played at UCLA (1998-2003), has accumulated tons of coaching experience through assistant and head coaching gigs in Germany and Japan, in addition to serving as an assistant coach for the NBA G League’s Agua Caliente Clippers (2017-18, 2021-22) and NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers (2018-20).

Ohemaa Nyanin, general manager of the Valkyries, said of the hire:

Natalie is the perfect candidate to lead the Valkyries as our head coach. She exemplifies every character trait in what we were looking for in a head coach and possesses deep expertise across professional basketball. Her journey is representative of the grit and perseverance that our team will embody to achieve our ultimate goal of winning championships.

Before making their head coach hire, the organization revealed the plans for and renderings of the team’s locker room at Chase Center and practice facility in Oakland. Both prove that preparations for their freshman season are in full swing. The Valkyries are going to have their own, V-shaped locker room, which is “symbolizing the unity of Valkyries in flight.” The training facility in downtown Oakland, which features two full-size courts and 17 basketball hoops in total, belonged to the NBA’s Golden State Warriors until 2019.

On the organization’s investment in its infrastructure, Nyanin has emphasized:

The investment that Golden State has made into both the Valkyries Practice Facility in Oakland, and the locker room in San Francisco, underscores this organization’s commitment to excellence. Connecting both sides of the Bay with elite facilities will set the tone for our athletes, coaching staff and medical teams, as we build a roster that will compete for championships.

Sponsorship deals also are already in place, with Kaiser Permanente becoming the team’s core jersey partner and JPMorgan Chase serving the team’s shield uniform partner. But, we’re still waiting for the jerseys to be unveiled. It will be interesting to see how similar (or how different) the actual jerseys will be from fan-created mockups. Regardless, with a coach, facilities and sponsorships, along with the expansion draft on Dec. 6, the Valkyries are moving towards fully becoming the WNBA’s 13th franchise.