Tyronn Lue has spent years coaching some of the biggest names in basketball, including LeBron James, and led the Cleveland Cavaliers to their historic first-ever NBA championship in 2016. It is safe to say Valkyries head coach Natalie Nakase is in a remarkably similar position right now, on the verge of potentially leading her franchise to its first-ever WNBA championship.

Given that parallel, you might expect Lue to have some wisdom to pass along when Nakase asked him for advice. As it turns out, he does not, and that in itself feels like one of the more instructive things he could have said. 

“I congratulated her on beating a very good team,” Lue said, as per NBA writer Tomer Azarly. “Becky Hammon, the best coach in the WNBA and the Aces, they won three of the last four. Going in to beat a team like that tells you what kind of coach Natalie is. I’m happy for her.” 

“She asked me if I have any tips going into the Finals, I said, ‘you don’t need my advice. You’re way better than me. You’re doing a better job than I am. So you got it. You’ve done a great job.’ I’m very happy for her,” he added.

Nakase has guided the Golden State Valkyries to the Finals in just her second season as a head coach. In her first year, she took a brand-new expansion team to the playoffs. This season, she followed that up with a second-place regular-season finish before sweeping the defending champions Las Vegas Aces 3-0 in the semifinals. The trajectory of what she has built in such a short period is genuinely remarkable.

If anything, what Lue’s refusal to offer advice really says is that whatever Nakase is doing is clearly working, and there is little reason for her to second-guess herself now. Taking an expansion team to the playoffs in its inaugural season was already impressive. Sweeping the defending champions in the semis in year two is an entirely different level of achievement. The most important thing Nakase can do heading into the Finals is trust the process that has brought her this far.

That said, the nerves that come with a WNBA championship final are entirely understandable. And in the intensity of preparation, it appears that Nakase has already been letting one important thing slip: food. 

Natalie Nakase briefly collapsed on the sideline during Game 3 of the first-round series against the Dallas Wings. That is not something anyone around her wants to see repeated, including Lue, who offered one piece of practical advice that needed no coaching pedigree. 

“She better eat. Can’t have her passing out again on the court,” he said.

Game 1 of the WNBA Finals tips off on Saturday, October 17. With anticipation building and preparations in full swing, Nakase has every reason to be confident. And should she eventually lift that championship trophy, it sounds like Tyronn Lue will be waiting to ask her for some coaching tips of his own.

Natalie Nakase’s Sister Steps In With Meals as Valkyries Coach Admits to Forgetting to Eat Amid Finals Prep

You’ve probably heard the story of scientists so absorbed in their work that they forget to eat? Well, Natalie Nakase has had her lab coat on preparing for this WNBA Finals against the Atlanta Dream, as the Golden State Valkyries head coach has been forgetting her meals as well. 

And having already had a health scare during the first round of the playoffs, her sister decided to step in and make sure that particular issue was not left to chance.

Speaking in an interview, Nakase revealed that her sister had laid out everything she needed to eat around her kitchen, a deliberate, almost clinical effort to ensure Nakase actually fuelled herself amid the excitement of film sessions and game planning. Her coaching staff has also taken it upon themselves to monitor her. 

“She left me with everything around my kitchen, like, this is what you need to eat. She’s laid everything out,” Nakase said. “Eat this. Yeah, eat this. So it’s funny, my staff, Landon, was like, we’re one hour into the meeting, and he goes, ‘You haven’t eaten anything,’ you know? And I’m like, ‘Oh, shoot!’ So Kenny went to get me something.” 

“I have a lot of staff looking out for me, and I do realize now, watching myself, I don’t eat. So I need to do a better job because I’m so excited with the film and game planning, and I just forget. So, yeah, I’m monitoring myself,” she added.

It is a small and strangely endearing window into the mind of a coach who is completely consumed by the biggest moment of her professional career. The Finals preparation is understandably all-encompassing. But regardless, her own well-being is equally important.