Valkyries' Nakase wins COY for successful debut

Golden State Valkyries manager Natalie Nakase has won the WNBA's Coach of the Year award, the league announced Wednesday.

The first-year manager led the Valkyries to a 23-21 grounds -- much than 5 times the fig of games the past WNBA enlargement squad won successful 2008 (Dream went 4-30). Golden State besides became the archetypal enlargement squad to marque the playoffs successful its inaugural season.

Nakase received 53 of the 72 votes. Dream manager Karl Smesko got 15 votes, portion the Las Vegas Aces' Becky Hammon and Minnesota Lynx's Cheryl Reeve each got two.

After spending the past 3 seasons arsenic an adjunct manager nether Hammon with the Aces, Nakase was hired by squad proprietor Joe Lacob and the Valkyries successful October 2024. She went done a rigorous interrogation process, but erstwhile she and Lacob yet met face-to-face successful a Las Vegas edifice during the NBA Summer League, it became wide this occupation was hers.

"At first, I was evidently nervous," Nakase said. "The winning civilization ... everything that helium does, helium sets a extremity for himself, helium accomplishes it. ... I was truthful inspired by having an interrogation with him."

Lacob made his extremity for his WNBA clear, arsenic helium has done earlier with the Warriors his NBA team.

"Whoever gets this job, you person to triumph successful 5 years. That's the requirement," Nakase recalled Lacob saying. "When you uncertainty maine oregon enactment a bully situation successful beforehand of me, I'm going to spell aft it 100%. ... That's erstwhile I knew I truly privation to enactment for this feline due to the fact that helium has precocious standards."

But adjacent Lacob's expectations for the Valkyries' archetypal play were surpassed.

Nearly each of Nakase's players finished the play averaging vocation highs, including Most Improved Player winner Veronica Burton. Before a season-ending wounded successful July, Kayla Thornton was besides making a lawsuit for that award.

But Nakase is the past 1 to instrumentality recognition for her team's accomplishments. Any clip she is asked astir what she has been capable to bash this season, she archetypal shines the spotlight connected her unit and everyone other astir her. One of the reasons Nakase credits everyone other for her occurrence is that they person fto her enactment existent to who she is to the fullest degree.

"As soon arsenic I met her, I realized [how aggravated she is]," Burton said. "I emotion it. She is truthful passionate astir everything that she does. She's truly intentional astir it, and she intelligibly cares truthful much. When you person idiosyncratic who is ace invested and it's helping us, it's for us, however tin you not privation that?"

Nakase knew she was a spot of a hoops sicko -- texting her unit until 3 a.m., watching movie for countless hours and being a self-proclaimed "MFer" with a atrocious mouth.

She didn't recognize however it was perceived externally. It's unusual for immoderate people. But she ever feels afloat accepted astatine Golden State.

"I thought I was a small much joyous, I thought I had a grin connected my face, but I'm starting to larn that I'm much intense," Nakase said. "The crushed wherefore I'm doing that is due to the fact that the players let maine to beryllium myself. I'm arrogant they are accepting maine for who I am. They let maine to manager them hard, to archer them the truth, to cuss astatine them straight successful moments they request it."

She continued: "The much I consciousness I americium loved and cared astir successful an environment, the much I tin beryllium myself."