Natalie Nakase’s Feat Involving Veronica Burton, Kayla Thornton Justifies WNBA Coach of the Year Win

Joe Lacob copied and pasted his Golden State Warriors blueprint when he hired Natalie Nakase. He gave Nakase a clear goal: “You have to win in five years. That’s the requirement,” Nakase recalled Lacob saying. The rookie WNBA head coach went above and beyond, getting the Golden State Valkyries a playoff berth in their first season. The results are historic, but it’s Nakase’s woman-management that sets her apart. 

The Valkyries’ head coach has nabbed the Coach Of The Year, and deservedly so. She has taken an expansion Valkyries with virtually no star power to a 23-21 record. Nakase ran away with it: 53 of 72 votes, with Atlanta’s Karl Smesko a distant second at 15, and just two apiece for Becky Hammon and Cheryl Reeve. While the Valkryries boss celebrates her win, her words on two of her star players before she received the honour further underscore why she is the best coach of 2025.

While talking about Veronica Burton and her Most Improved Player Of The Year win, she explained how the approaches clashed, but they still made it work. Nakase said, “V took a leap of faith with me being completely uncomfortable with the leadership that I made her, uh, do in terms of the mentality that I wanted her to do. I told you I’m a mfer, but she’s more of a kind-hearted um build a relationship and build that trust. And so again, I always give credit to people who want to stay who they are and stay true to themselves.”

Natalie Nakase is as intense as they come. Just look at her statements against the referees yesterday. She tore the referees after round 1 against the Lynx for the lopsided foul calls in the

second quarter that turned the tide. When fined, she doubled down. “You guys know what I said. I said what I said. I’m always gonna fight for my team when I feel like the calls were the calls,” Nakase declared. Veronica Burton herself explained how Nakase’s intensity makes her better. 

“As soon as I met her, I realized [how intense she is],” Burton said. “I love it. She is so passionate about everything that she does. She’s really intentional about it, and she clearly cares so much.When you have someone who is super invested and it’s helping us, it’s for us, how can you not want that?” So even while the mentalities clashed, Burton embraced Nakase’s style, and the results are evident. 

In the end, it was all about bringing the best out of her players, and Nakase had to meet Burton halfway to buy her style completely. These player relationships have made the Valkyries into the team they are. Before Burton , it was Kayla Thornton leading the Valkyries, but she had an unfortunate knee injury . Despite playing for only part of the season with the team, Nakase boasted on her only All-Star. 

Nakase told the media, “KT was making strides. I mean, she was an all-star from being, you know, a non-starter. Like, that’s huge.And again, credit to our whole organization, just to her teammates, to her coaches. And you got to give credit to the player to again be uncomfortable. be willing to do more. And I think that’s the embodiment of Golden State.”

Team has always mattered more to Nakase than any individual success. She was the frontrunner for the coach of the year even before the season had finished. However, after being asked about it, she said, “It should be Coaching Staff of the Year. I’m not doing the scouting on my own, I’m not doing the player development on my own. … It’s a credit to my staff.” What Nakase has achieved with her team is special. 

How Natalie Nakase Made ‘Not Enough’ Enough

The Valkyries plucked the right person out of Becky Hammon’s coaching staff (Dallas Wings, looking at you). But Nakase’s coaching career began almost a couple of decades ago in Germany. After a knee injury ended her playing prospects, she turned to coaching in Germany. After stints in Japan, she landed at the Los Angeles Clippers as a video intern.  

A head coach went from being an intern, but Nakase knew what it took. She moved through the ranks, and after being the assistant coach of the Clippers G-League team, she moved to the WNBA on Becky Hammon’s bench, which won back-to-back titles. She caught Valkyries’ eye, and her hiring has been the best decision they made

Expectations from Nakase were next to nothing. The team was largely built out of “former 6th women”. The only player on the Valkyries roster with an All-Star appearance was 35-year-old Tiffany Hayes, and that was back in 2017. With a lack of offense in the squad, she turned them into a defensive wall. 

Their third-best defense was aggressive on the glass (51.1% rebounding rate ranked fourth in the league), extremely physical, and relentless on the defensive end. allowed the fewest shots in the restricted area per game by a wide margin at 12.1. Only one team ever walled off the rim better: the 2018 Aces at just 10.6 attempts a night.

Natalie Nakase and the Golden State Valkyries’ fairytale season might end soon. After suffering a beatdown in Game 1 against the Lynx, Game 2 won’t be any easier. The Valkyries would have learned from Game 1, and at home, there is always a chance. The Bay Area crowd has turned up in numbers for the expansion side, and whether they make the semifinals or not, this will remain a historic season for Natalie Nakase.