New Golden State Valkyries Coach Pays Becky Hammon Ultimate Respect After Aces Exit
On October 10, the Golden State Valkyries (who are set to become the WNBA's 13th franchise, starting in the 2025 season) announced they had hired Natalie Nakase to be their first head coach.
That’s our Head Coach!
— Golden State Valkyries (@wnbagoldenstate) October 10, 2024
Welcome, Natalie Nakase 🏀 pic.twitter.com/WlaHiCypyM
Per a press release from the Valkyries, "Nakase takes the helm of the Valkyries following over 16 years of coaching professional basketball, including 10 seasons in the NBA with the Los Angeles Clippers, and three seasons as first assistant coach with the Las Vegas Aces."
Nakase was with Las Vegas for the past three seasons. After her hiring was announced, the Aces' social media team posted a video of head coach Becky Hammon discussing the impact Nakase had on her organization.
Among what Hammon said was, "The best thing about getting an opportunity when you're qualified is that you can go and crush it, and that's what I told her, 'You're going to be great. You're going to go crush it.' She has just had a really big hand in everything that we've done."
"The best thing about getting an opportunity when you're qualified is that you can go and crush it, and that's what I told her, 'You're going to be great. You're going to go crush it.'" — @BeckyHammon on @natalienakase pic.twitter.com/yRzYdxiIXo
— Las Vegas Aces (@LVAces) October 10, 2024
Nakase responded to this post on X Saturday, writing, "You changed my life @BeckyHammon and I will be forever grateful for your wisdom, love & laughs! Love you always homie! 🤍👊".
You changed my life @BeckyHammon and I will be forever grateful for your wisdom, love & laughs! Love you always homie! 🤍👊🏽 https://t.co/0cx5dGaAPE
— Natalie Nakase (@NatalieNakase) October 12, 2024
This is quite the compliment Nakase paid Hammon, as there's clearly a ton of mutual respect between these two head coaches.
In the aforementioned press release, Nakase is quoted saying, “Being named the head coach of the Golden State Valkyries is a lifelong dream come true. I am thankful to Joe Lacob, Ohemaa Nyanin and the Golden State front office for entrusting me with this responsibility.
"We are committed to building a winning culture of grit, hard work, and competitiveness. We will strive to improve, compete, and ultimately bring home a championship for our fans and this organization,” she added.
One of Nakase's first orders of business will be figuring out who Golden State will target in their Expansion Draft, which occurs on December 6.
Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.