Natalie Nakase

Natalie Nakase
Nakase with the Los Angeles Clippers in 2018
Golden State Valkyries
PositionHead coach
LeagueWNBA
Personal information
Born (1980-04-18) April 18, 1980 (age 44)
Anaheim, California, U.S.
Listed height5 ft 2 in (1.57 m)
Career information
High schoolMarina (Huntington Beach, California)
CollegeUCLA (1998–2003)
Playing career2005–2008
PositionPoint guard
Coaching career2008–present
Career history
As player:
2005San Jose Spiders
2006San Diego Siege
2007–2008Herner
As coach:
2008–2010Wolfenbüttel Wildcats
2010–2011Tokyo Apache (assistant)
2011–2012Saitama Broncos
2017–2018Agua Caliente Clippers (assistant)
20182020Los Angeles Clippers (assistant)
2021–2022Agua Caliente Clippers (assistant)
2022–2024Las Vegas Aces (assistant)
2025–presentGolden State Valkyries
Career highlights and awards
As assistant coach:

Natalie Mitsue Nakase (born April 18, 1980)[1] is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach of the Golden State Valkyries of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). After retiring as a player, Nakase was a head coach for both men's and women's professional teams. She was later an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Clippers in the National Basketball Association (NBA). She then won two WNBA championships as an assistant coach for the Las Vegas Aces in 2022 and 2023.

Nakase grew up in Orange County, California, where she was honored as the county's high school player of the year. She played college basketball for the UCLA Bruins, receiving honorable mention as an all-conference player in the Pacific-10 in 2002. A third-generation Japanese-American, she became the first Asian American to play in the National Women's Basketball League (NWBL). She also played in Germany before suffering a knee injury and retiring as a player. Nakase went into coaching, and served as a head coach of a women's team in Germany before becoming the first female head coach in Japan's top pro men's league. Nakase returned to the United States, joining the Clippers of the NBA as a video intern in 2012. She became an assistant coach to their NBA G League development team, Agua Caliente, in 2017. She became an NBA assistant for the Clippers in 2018, and joined the WNBA's Aces in 2022, when she became the first Asian American coach to win an WNBA title.[2]

  1. ^ "Player Bio:Natalie Nakase". UCLABruins.com. Retrieved July 21, 2014.
  2. ^ General, Ryan (September 20, 2022). "Las Vegas Aces' assistant coach Natalie Nakase becomes first Asian American coach to win WNBA title". NextShark. Retrieved September 21, 2022.