The Golden State Valkyries have their first head coach. Welcome to the Natalie Nakase era.

The now-former Las Vegas Aces assistant will be taking the lead for the WNBA's newest expansion franchise.

Courtesy // Golden State Valkyries

Las Vegas Aces head coach Becky Hammon wasn’t lying when she said her team would look a lot different in 2025. Just as the season ended for the two-time WNBA Champions, the expansion Golden State Valkyries announced that top Vegas assistant Natalie Nakase would be their first ever head coach.

“Being named the head coach of the Golden State Valkyries is a lifelong dream come true,” Nakase said. “We will strive to improve, compete and ultimately bring home a championship for our fans and this organization.”

It was long rumored that Nakase would be a top target for Golden State, being a California native with extensive ties to the west coast. She spent 11 years in the NBA with the Los Angeles Clippers organization in a variety of rules including assistant coach and player development coach at both the NBA and G-League levels.

The 44 year old played professionally for two years after spending her college years as a point guard at UCLA. She began her coaching career in 2008, starting with German top-flight club Wolfenbuttel before making a stop in the Japanese league. In 2012, she began an internship with the Clippers eventually being elevated to assistant video coordinator and then to the bench as an assistant. During a two week Summer League stint in 2014 at just 34 years old she was the first woman to sit on a bench as an NBA assistant.

“Natalie has played a huge role in our Aces success over the last three years,” said Aces head coach Becky Hammon. “Her bright mind, relentless work ethic and ability to build relationships with our players has had a lasting impact on not just our organization, players and staff but also throughout the Las Vegas community.”

Nakase will now have the task, along with General Manager Ohemaa Nyanin, of building a roster from scratch beginning in the 2025 expansion draft, WNBA Draft and free agency.

A Haub Take: A+++

I love this hire. Full stop. Nakase was on the short list for basically every job this year and it should be absolutely obvious why. Her time in player development has paid dividends for players on the Aces roster. While Hammon gets the lion’s share of the credit for Vegas’ post-Bill Laimbeer run of dominance — yes, if you’re new here the former Pistons hall-of-famer is a celebrated W coach — a lot of the Aces top stars credit Nakase and fellow assistant Tyler Marsh for developing them into the best players in the league.

At 44, she will have the type of youth and energy needed to put a battery in the back of a brand new franchise. It’s also worth considering the groundbreaking nature of Nakase’s hire and what it can mean to the San Francisco/Bay Area community. She is the first Asian American coach to win a WNBA title and, by our accounting at NCS, the first AAPI (Asian-American or Pacific Islander) head coach in the league’s history. In a region with such a strong demographic AAPI presence (27% of the Bay Area population), it’s hard to overstate what that means for a community that has a strong connection to women’s basketball. There’s a major revolution happening, especially within the Pacific Islander community, in women’s hoops as stars like Alissa Pili, Te-Hina Paopao and Talia Von Oelhoffen are making names for themselves. Couple that with the already proud women’s hoops cultures in Japan and China and you can see why Nakase can be representative of something more than just a WNBA coach within this area.

Factor in the fact that there is NBA experience, the synergy with the Valkyries ownership group (Joe Lacob and co., who own the Warriors) and the litany of people she could fill out a staff with, it’s hard to not see how she not only checks every box but exceeds what is required.

What will be interesting is who she decides to identify from her own team as a player she really wants in the expansion draft and what the roster will look like. It may not be an immediate success overnight, but Nakase has every bonafide possible to be a great coach in this league and build the community enthusiasm needed for the Bay Area to wrap its’ arms around the W and the Valkyries.