Special Feature: Coach Natalie Nakase on "Section 415" with Kerry Crowley

Exciting news!

We’ve teamed up with Section 415, the brand-new Bay Area sports podcast from The San Francisco Standard, to share their latest episode featuring an interview with Golden State Valkyries Head Coach Natalie Nakase.

Section 415 is hosted by sports editor Kerry Crowley and offers insider interviews, sharp analysis, and fresh reporting on local teams — including the 49ers, Giants, Warriors, and of course, the Valkyries. New episodes drop every Tuesday and Friday on all major podcast platforms.

🎧 Listen to the episode with Coach Nakase here.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01: 0:00

Back in May, the Golden State Valkyries played their first game at Chase Center in front of 18,000 screaming fans. The introduction of a WNBA team marked the start of a new chapter in Bay Area sports history, and over the next four months, the story exceeded everyone's expectations. The Valkyries sold out all 22 home games, won 23 regular season matchups, and became the first expansion team in league history to make the playoffs. The first at the center of it all was WNBA Coach of the Year Natalie Nikase, who joined Section 415 to reflect on the magnitude of the team's achievements, where Golden State goes for air. Natalie, thank you for joining us. How are you today?

SPEAKER_00: 0:54

I'm good. Thanks for having me. I'm really excited.

SPEAKER_01: 0:57

Yeah, I'm really excited for this conversation as well because you've now been on the job as the head coach at the Golden State Valkyries for over a year. And as you kind of reflect back on all of the progress that you and your staff have made, all of the milestones that you and this team have hit, take me to the initial conversations that you had with Joe Lacob and Ohema Nyan and your general manager. Like, did you reach out? Did they reach out? How was the dialogue like at the very beginning of this?

SPEAKER_00: 1:25

Um that was a long time ago. Um, no, they they reached out. Um, Ohema reached out and she asked if, you know, I wanted, you know, an interviewer do what I can see myself interviewing for this position. And um yeah, you know, I was with Vegas and we won two championships. So at the time, um, we were still in season. And so at the time, I just uh I have this loyalty in me that you know I stay loyal to where I am and to my presence. So I got like a little bit of, I would say, anxious and nervousness of like, is this the right thing to do? You know, I'm still with ACEs right now. I'm committed to, you know, everyone in that whole organization. Um, so I think there was some hesitation, obviously, because of where I was uh um sitting and and working. But at the same time, Becky did tell me like you do need to start interviewing for these positions. She's had coaching, you need to stop uh passing up on them. Uh and she said she understands, you know, where my loyalty stands and how much I love, you know, being with the Las Vegas Aces. But um, no, she was pushing me. So knowing O'Hemma a little bit prior, you know, we did, we were acquaintances, we met um years ago at a women's conference. And, you know, instantly I remember having like a lunch with Ohemma, and she was just so genuine um within our lunch. And uh I actually felt like she was like a friend um from college. Like when I when we sat down, she made me laugh a ton. And so I knew too to trust my gut when I um when I said yes, because uh I like to work with good people. I think uh I'm at a stage in my life where I deserve to work with good people. And so yeah, I I I took the interview with her.

SPEAKER_01: 3:09

Well, what was the initial feeling like when you go through the interview process and you get the offer from the Valkyries and you realize, like, hey, I can be the first head coach for this expansion franchise?

SPEAKER_00: 3:20

So when she offered me the job, what was it like?

SPEAKER_01: 3:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 3:24

I mean, yeah, I was uh I was in shock. She like, she asked me to FaceTime her, and like I'm not a big FaceTime uh person. I know it's 2025, but I hate to FaceTime. So um I was like, why does she want to FaceTime? And so thinking in my head, and then I remember, you know, I was with my family, it was a game day. I was with my family, and so I remember just taking the call, you know, in a different room other than my family. And um, yeah, when she told me my my mouth just dropped, and I remember just saying, like, fuck yeah, like yeah, like, you know, I can't believe this was happening, but I remember saying it um quietly because I wanted to see my family's reaction, like, you know, um for the first time. So I didn't want to scream. And I just remember telling her, like, thank you so much, you know, I can't wait for this opportunity to go forward. And then I, you know, two seconds later, I went into the room and I told my sister and my nephew Kasen, I'm like, I got the effing job. And like they just like were ecstatic. Um, there were like instant tears of like, not instant tears, I'd say right away, but just so much joy within two seconds because they knew how hard, you know, this opportunity was for me to get and how long uh this has been a long life dream of mine. And so my sister ended up doing like what my dad, you know, who is no longer with us, but my dad would like head nod of approval. It was something big for me. And I just remember my sister doing that. And like, I'll forever be grateful. Like, I felt like he was with us at the time that that happened. So yeah, ton of emotions.

SPEAKER_01: 4:59

Yeah, absolutely. That's incredibly sweet. And uh, I I just wonder like you have such a fascinating dynamic because you take this job, you're so excited about it, and it's unlike any other in the WNBA, you don't have any players yet. So, how do you spend the early days in the organization? Like, are you looking for assistant coaches right away? Are there calls you know you want to make? Because you can't exactly game plan for the team with no roster.

SPEAKER_00: 5:23

Yeah, that's a great question. I mean, we had to do everything, right? We we were starting from scratch. It was only at the time, I think Jess, myself, um, O'Hema, I think Vanya was I don't know, Vanya was hired at the time. So yeah, I mean, just because the leadership was uh starting to come to fruition a little bit, like we had to do both. We had to be ready for the expansion draft and also had to like set my staff. So it was just constant um interviews, but at the same time watching a ton of film, just because, like, like you said, we needed players. I needed a staff that I could trust. And so we're just multitasking, you know, seeing that both was a priority, um, understanding we're gonna change lives of so many people. I was gonna move people to the Bay for the very first time um where we had no idea um our practice facility was getting was getting built, but wasn't ready. And so, yeah, it was a ton of moving parts. We realized looking back at like saying this was the hardest time of our season just because um we wanted to pick the right people. We wanted to be super intentional. And then instead of hearing like the naysayers of saying like expansion teams aren't very good year one, this and that, we're like, let's call it a new team, let's call it um our story, how we want to build it. And so we started to use all the negative uh history of it and turned it into a positive. So like we're looking at it like we get to intentionally pick, you know, 12 players. We ended up picking 11, but 12 players, but people that fit us. And so we took it as a positive rather than all the negative that came with, you know, the term expansion team. And so yeah, we did a great job, I thought, you know, changing it into our way. So yeah, just credit to our leadership.

SPEAKER_01: 7:08

Yeah, I think it it certainly resonated a lot with the players. Like when you talk to them, they very clearly felt the culture from the moment that they joined the organization. And so I wanted to ask you about that expansion draft. You used the phrase changing lives. What were those phone calls like? Because I would imagine there's trepidation among players having to move to this new team. There's no history of what's gone on here in the Bay. Like it's a it's a lot of unknowns and a lot to ask. What were those conversations like?

SPEAKER_00: 7:35

Yeah, um, a lot of ner a lot of nervous energy, to be honest. Um, because again, we were we weren't sure if we were the ones or like the agents were the ones. I'm pretty sure it was their agents, like they told them right before the expansion draft, because we had to tell them before it was on ESPN, right? It wasn't like we got to tell them like a long time ago. Like we had to tell them um when we were gonna be announced. And so we wanted that a little bit of warning, right? Like to let them know in two or three hours your name is going to be announced on ESPN. It's going to be a national um message across the board for your whole family, your circle, your team. And so yeah, we were nervous. We didn't know how people were going to react. Were they going to be happy that we were calling them? Were they going to get frustrated or upset or sad that they were leaving a team maybe that they really love being a part of? So yeah, we just, I remember just all three of us were together at the time instead of having like four, you know, four different, you know, windows or whatever. So we got really close to the to the phone and we were just like smiling and kind of like saying, surprise. And so for me, like obviously I know Kate. So Kate was great, obviously, because you know, we have history. Um, you know, we were very close in Las Vegas. And so hers was obviously like joy, celebration, excitement, you know. Um, there are others that were kind of shocked. Um, so yeah, I just we just had to be ready for anything. Um, but a lot of it, no matter if it was joy or nervousness or anxiety, like we wanted to show them through energy and through the phone that we were ready for them. We wanted to pick you. Um, this is a place for them. So within the amount of minutes that it took, and we gave them time, however much time and questions that they wanted, um we gave it to them just because again, they deserve it. And we wanted to make it welcoming as best as we could. So yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 9:27

So the next step for you is you've got all these players and you're trying to build a roster for training camp. You know you can't keep everyone. What was the bigger challenge as you set out for training camp? Which, by the way, I'm still amazed that it's just three weeks. That is a very condensed time period to make a lot of big picture decisions. What was the bigger challenge? Is it uh, you know, feeling out who you need to keep or determining like what the core identities of the team are gonna be and then figuring out who you keep based on off of that?

SPEAKER_00: 9:58

Yeah, all of it, to be honest. Everything, especially me. I was a first-time head coach. And so as much as people laugh, I had no idea what I was doing. I had obviously, you know, standards and ideas and like and a culture identity, but like I'm a big believer that the identity is who the players are. Like, again, I intentionally picked them to fit into a culture, but it's because of it's of who they are. I don't know how much if I could really change them once they get here and just be like, hey, now you have to be gritty. No, they're gritty before. And that's why they're an attractive, you know, player that we handpicked. And so um, I was just kind of now looking for in training camp, like connectivity, right? Like, do they really fit the standard of like what this role individually was, but at the same time, like how um well they're gonna get along with each other. That was my biggest piece because I've been on teams at one, I've been on teams at lost, and those that connect the best, I think go past expectations and they go past of what people think um, you know, our record was gonna be or how many wins we're gonna, you know, set for ourselves. So I look for that initially. And then obviously the competitive level has to be there. And so how they're transitioning through camp of the adversity that would I would give them, um, that was key. Uh, so I was looking for that level of competitiveness. Can they push through like a bunch of losing? Like, what do they look like through losing? You know, if they're sore loser, then um, yeah, they're probably not gonna do well with me. Um, you know, and then lastly, like, do they play with joy? Yeah, like joy is a big thing. And so the people that could dance and make fun of themselves early on, um, those those players were vital. And I think that's I bring back Kate again because Kate is not afraid to be herself. And you need people like that on the team to set that tone. Like, yeah, I could do it, but like when a player does it and then they see their, you know, their teammates doing it as well, then they get silly and crazy and authentic themselves. And so yeah, Kate was a huge piece to us.

SPEAKER_01: 12:06

I feel like joy is the ethos of the Golden State organization. Like warriors, Valkyries, if you're playing with joy, you're winning and you're having fun. And I I've asked you questions kind of chronologically to this point, and this may not fit within a specific timeline. At what point did you think, okay, we're gonna be good? Was it uh during training camp? Was it at some point during the regular season? Because you had a really good team, but I would imagine like there must have been some doubt along the way, and there had to have been a turning point where you're like, we've got this.

SPEAKER_00: 12:37

Yeah, there I'm gonna say there was never an exact moment. Um I did pick up like we did pick things up quickly in terms of like I had a standard of like how much, you know, how many sets I was going to put in. And I would say they picked it up a lot faster, I would say. So the offensive um sets they picked up pretty quickly. But if I looked at how I gauged that, uh, which I never did because to me that kind of was a irrelevant a little bit in terms of how I was trying to get them just to be prepared for game one, right? Like the whole training camp for me was how can I get them prepared? We already knew we were gonna play LA. So what does that look like in terms of like the personnel we're gonna face, the type of talent and connectivity that they're gonna have? I have no idea because they were kind of half new, I would say, too, as a team, but I knew the talent of like Plum, uh, Derrika, um, like Ray Borel. Like I knew those players. So how can we just be prepared? How can we just stay present rather than evaluate ourselves and like look back at ourselves? To me, never, it was never gonna be good enough because our whole goal and our purpose from the jump was just to get better every day, 1%. That was our purpose. How can we get better um every day at least 1%? And so as long as we stayed focused on that, we didn't really evaluate ourselves as much rather than game one. You know, game one was going to be a test, and then how are we gonna attack game two? And then so on and so on. So just being present and staying focused on, you know, getting better, I think, was more our focus than anything.

SPEAKER_01: 14:25

Game one comes around and it's a scene at Chase Center. And a couple games later, like you guys get your first victory. But you did start two and five before the turnaround really began, and you had players in and out with Eurobasket, the roster's constantly changing. I I wonder if there was a moment in the early months of the season, say May or June, where you realized I I I'd already asked you, like, where are you gonna be good? But where you realized things are okay, or was it just head down until the end?

SPEAKER_00: 14:54

No, it was it it really that's a good question. To be honest, it's really head down till the end. Um, because I uh how I look at sports is like nothing is nothing carries over from game to game. Nothing. And if people think that, fine, they think they can think that. That's not how we thought. Um, because it isn't. Like no rebound is going to be carried over to the second game. You're not guaranteed, you know, 10 points just because you scored and shot really well the game before. Everything's different, and that's the beauty of sports is like you're going to have to game plan every single time for a different opponent. Um, that's what I love. That's what I challenge the girls on enjoying that, enjoying that um unpredictability. But what can we control? We can control number one, our health, our mental, our physical, our game planning being on the same page. And I think when you keep things like simple for a team, I think that allows them to play a little bit more clear and free and with joy. And so, yeah, we just kind of manage ourselves day to day, focus on what we can control rather than hearing about the outside noise. What is a record? I don't even have to talk, I never talked about a record. Yeah. Um, which I felt was key because, like I said, it was irrelevant. Um, what we wanted to do was focus, get better 1%. Was there a time when I felt like we were gonna be good? I don't know. I I again, I really don't know. I just like what I did love, I'd say early on was our competitive edge and our belief. I think that came early because we were able to connect so quickly. Um, and I think that goes back to the people of who they were. They're high character, selfless players. And that really what was I was, I guess I could say I was proud of, or I could see that there was something that I was like, yes, we are moving forward because we're so connected. So I would say that I saw early on.

SPEAKER_01: 16:41

Yeah, you talk about competitive edge, and to kind of give you a fan's point of view, I took my wife to a game in the middle of the season, and she's not a huge sports fan, and she loved the way that Veronica Burton ran around the court and was just like emanating competitiveness and like bravery in the way that she defended players. You talked a lot over the course of this season about Veronica and your relationship with her and how you had to challenge her and how she constantly met those challenges, maybe in different ways. How did you see her evolution over the course of the season?

SPEAKER_00: 17:15

Yeah, uh, to be completely transparent, I I don't I don't know rather than now, talking about it now. Like, I mean, during I just I had to manage so many things. And so I just credit to like my coaching staff for helping me see, you know, the evolvement of her personally, because obviously the positional coaches, you know, Sugar Rogers was her positional coach of me kind of, hey, you know, V's been doing well in this in this offensive set or V's doing well, picking up this player specifically. So just kind of credit to my coaching staff to being my set of eyes that I needed because I was kind of managing so many things. But I think what we did see like firsthand was just that confidence, just because, you know, I challenged her with her voice. I mean, being a point guard, like you're you're the quarterback. You are calling the sets. Like once it's once you're out there, like I can't, I can't call a timeout every two seconds, right? So it's just the trust that you know we were able to build together and me challenging her on memorizing, you know, possessions, memorizing sets, memorizing flows. And um, I think the more we're able to have conversations, especially after losses, um, and her just being open and honest of what works for her and what works for the team, that started to really translate, I would say, for her evolution throughout the seat throughout the season, like just having, I think, um, more open conversations. It didn't start early, obviously, but like as it grew through the season, we were able to have better conversations. And so yeah, it it took time. Um, but to be honest, I reflect now more now just because like there's a million things going on that I didn't know I had to I had to manage. So just being very honest.

SPEAKER_01: 18:54

And there's there's a lot more time to reflect right now. Like in the in the middle of the season, you're on flights and you're game planning and you're determining who who's replacing an injured player. And one of the things that I thought was really cool is you did have to suffer some tough losses as a team. I mean, Caleb Thornton going out, that's gotta be devastating. But you also had so many players step up and fill different roles. And I'm gonna ask you a question that a lot of coaches have thrown back at me. They don't necessarily like it because they don't like to leave anyone out. But were there any players who really surprised you in terms of their development who you look back at and say, maybe I didn't expect this player to be so important or so good by the end of the season when you consider what they were in training camp?

SPEAKER_00: 19:35

Yeah. Um I mean, honestly, honestly, everyone, I mean, I I I really do think a lot of our players, I mean, I actually do think every single player grew and improved in our system. And I think the the stats do show that. I mean, we do have evidence and to to validate that point. I mean, I could, yeah, I could start with V. I mean, V is an obvious choice, but like unfortunately, when KT went down, but even KT's growth, right? Like her being a first-time All-Star, um, taking on the load of the defensive end of challenge her to guard the best player for each team for her to play a lot more offensively, what we needed. Um, but when she went down, like unfortunately, like V had to take on a lot of the load of now guarding the best player. So, what does that look like on the heavy load of the offensive running? And then so when that happened, then Carla and Caitlin had to step up because we're demanding so much from her on the defensive end. So KT went down. So everyone just kind of started to take on, I think, a more aggressive role when people went down. Eurobasket, you know, happened. And so um I think that's what was amazing about our team. I'm still trying to figure out like why everything fits so seamlessly, why, you know, Kai Charles comes in and just kind of then takes on a little bit more of the defense that KT, you know, we're missing from KT. Um, and then just understand the offense so quickly. I'm like, how in the hell did you do that? Like, I'm I'm really kind of very curious, like, as I'm going to ask probably a lot of the players now to reflect on like, how in the hell did we do this, guys? Um, but I think in all honesty, it's it's who they are as a person. They didn't want the credit, they don't want a certain amount of minutes. I never had problems with like, I need more shots. Like that never once came up. They just wanted to play the right way, play hard, competitive, and put the team first to win. So yeah, it's it's who they are as people.

SPEAKER_01: 21:27

I I think it was kind of the question that every Valkyrie's fan was asking, like, how the hell are you doing this? And they felt it, they kept showing up, and they ultimately went down to SAP Center in San Jose and were treated to really one of the most remarkable games I've witnessed in person. I've been going to Bay Area basketball games for a long time. And I just remember like the final moment of that game, Chechi misses the shot that would have given you a remarkable win over the links, extended the series. And so many times when you lose, it's just pure agony, like right away. And your players almost immediately chose like joy with one another. And it wasn't it wasn't like instantly, they felt for her, they surrounded her, and it was a very, very inspiring moment. But why do you think that was kind of the natural reaction that it would be different from some of the way that other teams lose in in that fashion?

SPEAKER_00: 22:20

Yeah, that might be a question for all of our players, to be honest. I know, because I can't be honestly, I can't be inside their head, but I think um maybe also it's kind of like the the way we kind of see the game. Like I told you, um we try to kind of see the game as what we could couldn't control, right? And so, in probably their eyes, because same mind in mine, like we fought. I mean, to me, like we knew we had to play a perfect game versus Minnesota. Um, but I thought all the controllables that we came, like we changed their game plan. It was going to be very aggressive. And I thought they followed it to a T, to be honest. And I think they left it all out there. We controlled our effort and we know, we knew like we had to go, you know, balls to the wall like crazy, like throw out everything, leave everything out on the floor. And I thought we did that. Um, like I said, we never leave it on a one shot at the end. Like I told them from the jump, like this game will never be determined by the end of the game shot. So that's why I always want that player to feel as free. Like, what about all the other possessions leading up to that? The first quarter, the second quarter, the third quarter. I treat it all the same and I talk about that heavily, so it doesn't feel heavy at the end. And so I think we knew that. I think we all had onus on, like, damn, if I would have done, you know, this possession or made this layup or made this free throw, like could have the outcome been different. And I think when we all take onus on that, on that loss and not just Chechi, like we knew that that wasn't gonna determine it. But we were so proud that she took that shot. She got that separation, right? She got that lift and we knew it was just a couple of centimeters away from us going. We knew that still was a victory in a way. In in a way, you know, and then to have the crowd, to have 18,000 people stand for you is probably one month one of the most humbling experiences I've ever had. Um, it feels awkward, but it feels so surreal. I mean, I still I'm like getting like I'm getting nervous actually here, getting like chills, like talking about it right now because I vividly remember every moment um at that. And so just credit to our fans, like to give us that feeling because I told them they were the only 12, we're only 13 players that could feel that every home game. 18,000 fans that we're the only we're the only team that got got to feel that. So we do understand how special you know those moments were.

SPEAKER_01: 24:44

Yeah, the only team that got to feel it, and the only team that's ever felt that in the WNBA, which is a real achievement and testament to what you built and what the Bay Area built and everyone around the organization. And so I'll I'll end with this. Uh, you mentioned this uh after the final game. Cheryl Reeve mentioned this after the final game. Expectations are higher in year two, and you want that. But what are you most looking forward to as you continue to build?

SPEAKER_00: 25:11

Uh, well, you know me. I like I like hard work, I like intentional work, I like smart work. So the beauty for me as a coach is to kind of see all the tough, uh, long, hardworking hours behind the scenes. And so right now it's like the coaching staff, right? Like, what are we doing to get better right now? Everyone's working, um, I would say passionately behind the scenes right now, um, how we can get better individually as coaches, but more importantly as a staff, how can we kind of be unpredictable and challenging next season for our players? And then, you know, putting it all together uh eventually as we get later down the road during training camp, you know, seeing everyone come back, but also being super intentional and mindful that our players are getting better right now in Europe. And so that's so exciting for us. Like we are seeing, I'd say, 10 of our players, I think, playing right now overseas, and it's so cool. I would have never thought every single player from our roster would be playing in Euroleague. Like that is uncommon. Um, we would have never thought even like LA, Caitlin, like these are players that didn't play heavy minutes, and they are playing heavy minutes on their team right now and contributing. So we think that's very cool. And then, you know, we have KTV Kate here with us right now, and we get to put our hands on them. You know, we get to, you know, intentionally get them ready, and we saw the weaknesses that they have, and we're trying to fill those weaknesses now. So just I think just I love the work. I I love the work in the off-season. Um, because those are the biggest changes that you can make. And we could take our time because our off season, you know, for most of us is a little bit longer. And so, yeah, spending time, working hard, um, finding joy. I will find joy with it too, as well. Um, but no, I I like the hard work in the off season. That's probably some of my favorite times right now.

SPEAKER_01: 27:04

Work and joy ahead for you, Natalie. Thank you so much for joining us here on Section 415.

SPEAKER_00: 27:09

Thank you so much. I really enjoyed this. You did a great job. The Chronicle Order, I I enjoyed that.

SPEAKER_01: 27:14

There we go. We'll we'll we'll have to keep that around.

SPEAKER_00: 27:17

I appreciate it. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_01: 27:20

This episode was produced by Dakota London and edited by Sophie Behrman. Sophie Behrman is our head of audio. Our show art is by Jess Hutcheson, theme music by Hannes Brown. We're a production of the San Francisco Standard, which you can support by becoming a member at sfstandard.comslash sign up. I'm your host, Carrie Crowley. Thank you for listening.