It was not a surprise for Becky Hammon when the Golden State Valkyries hired Natalie Nakase to lead the expansion franchise as their first-ever head coach. Ahead of the Las Vegas Aces and Valkyries’ first-ever matchup on primetime television, Hammon revealed that her former assistant coach was highly sought after around the WNBA before she took the Valkyries’ head coaching opening.
In her pre-game press conference, Hammon revealed that Nakase had several head coaching offers while she was an assistant with the Aces.
“Natalie could have left earlier. I know she turned down some people who had inquired to talk to her about their head coaching vacancies,” Hammon shared when asked about Nakase’s growth since leaving the Aces. “I think it shows a lot of wisdom and maturity that she wanted to stay. That’s the biggest thing. When you feel like, you’re ready, you got to go.”
Hammon hired Nakase to her coaching staff when Hammon took the Aces job opening in 2022. Together, they won back-to-back championships for Las Vegas. They were the first WNBA team to win consecutive titles since the Los Angeles Sparks did it in 2001 and 2002.
In her own press conference, Nakase shared why it was so hard to leave Hammon and the Aces.
“Once you win [a championship], especially our first one, it took working extremely hard together. A lot of long hours and 3am texts. So when you win one, you don’t want to leave. Why would you leave when you are on top?” Nakase said, smiling. “I had multiple interviews, but I didn’t take the interviews after my first year. [Hammon] was like, ‘What are you doing?’ And I was like, ‘I love working for you and your staff. And I love the players.’ As you guys know, they are amazing superstars, but they are super humble. That’s why we won so much, and that’s why it was very tough to leave.
Hammon on the Valkyries’ season thus far
While the Valkyries have opened the season 2-5, they’ve been far more competitive than anyone expected for an expansion team. With narrow losses to the New York Liberty, Minnesota Lynx, and Phoenix Mercury, they’ve had opportunities to knock of some genuine powerhouses.
In the same press conference, the Aces boss talked about Nakase’s growth in Golden State so far.
“I think she’s doing a great job. They’ve been in a lot of games, they haven’t quite been able to pull them out. But when you’re pushing teams like New York and Minnesota, I think she’s doing a lot of things right,” Hammon said. The Valkyries had the best defensive rating in the WNBA three games into the season. But after losing their last four games in a row, they’ve dropped to ninth in the league. The main issue has been their ability to get important stops during critical stretches in the game.
Still, Hammon’s not worried for Nakase and her Valkyries.
“Eventually, they will find some success. A lot of times, it takes some failures with the team before you can really start building on that success and learning how to close games. But once they figure out how to close games, they are going to win some, because I thought there were definitely a few that got away from them. It’s signs of a new group and a young team. But she’s got them pointed in the right direction. She’s doing great, I’m not surprised.”
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