Golden State Valkyries Head Coach Natalie Nakase has been honored as the WNBA’s Coach of the Year, as well as the Associated Press Coach of the Year.
Nakase received 53 of 72 votes from a national panel of sportswriters and broadcasters for the league’s top coaching honor. Atlanta Dream head coach Karl Smesko finished in second place with 15 votes. Las Vegas Aces head coach Becky Hammon and Minnesota Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve tied for third place with two votes each.
With Nakase leading the way, Golden State set the WNBA record for victories by an expansion team in its first season with 23. The Valkyries (23-21) also became the first team to qualify for the WNBA Playoffs presented by Google in its inaugural season.
Nakase was hired as the Valkyries’ head coach in October 2024 after serving three seasons as an Aces assistant coach. She helped Las Vegas win back-to-back WNBA championships in 2022 and 2023. Before her stint with the Aces, Nakase spent 10 seasons with the Los Angeles Clippers, finishing her tenure as an assistant coach.
“I never aimed for this type of award, and my dad taught me that early on, that it’s all about winning,” Nakase said. “And that’s why I took this job, because [Valkyries owner Joe Lacob] was like, ‘If you take this job we’ve got to win a championship in five years.’ That’s the goal, so I just wanted to start with that. But what this does, is it reflects on (our) whole organization. It starts at the top.”
Nakase recently shared how late father Gary’s influence has stayed with her since his death in 2021, and how she has learned “that I do need to care about my mental health as well.”
“There have always been moments where I’ve always wanted to call my dad,” she said before her team’s Sept. 4 playoff-clinching win over the Dallas Wings. “So I am a little bit proud that I’ve been able to survive, because normally I tear up, I do cry, I still miss my dad. But there’s moments where I’ve been able to kind of hang in there and talk to my dad out loud, where usually I break down. So I’m starting to really build a thicker skin as I’m going through this healing process.”
The AP awards, announced Sept. 12, were voted on by a panel of national women’s basketball sports-writers.
Under Nakase’s tuteledge, the Vakyries rank top five in the league in rebounds per game (35.3), free throw percentage (81.5), defensive rating (99.8), and opponent points per game (76.3).
– WNBA / Rafu wire services