_(cropped).jpg) Nakase with the Los Angeles Clippers in 2018 | |
| Golden State Valkyries | |
|---|---|
| Position | Head coach |
| League | WNBA |
| Personal information | |
| Born | April 18, 1980 Anaheim, California, U.S. |
| Listed height | 5 ft 2 in (1.57 m) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Marina (Huntington Beach, California) |
| College | UCLA (1998–2003) |
| Playing career | 2005–2008 |
| Position | Point guard |
| Coaching career | 2008–present |
| Career history | |
| As player: | |
| 2005 | San Jose Spiders |
| 2006 | San Diego Siege |
| 2007–2008 | Herner |
| As coach: | |
| 2008–2010 | Wolfenbüttel Wildcats |
| 2010–2011 | Tokyo Apache (assistant) |
| 2011–2012 | Saitama Broncos |
| 2017–2018 | Agua Caliente Clippers (assistant) |
| 2018–2020 | Los Angeles Clippers (assistant) |
| 2021–2022 | Agua Caliente Clippers (assistant) |
| 2022–2024 | Las Vegas Aces (assistant) |
| 2025–present | Golden 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]
- ^ "Player Bio:Natalie Nakase". UCLABruins.com. Retrieved July 21, 2014.
- ^ 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.