As the 2024 WNBA season finishes, New York Liberty takes the trophy home after a tough win against the Las Vegas Aces in the semifinals and a championship win against the Minnesota Lynx. In the semifinals against the Aces, the Liberty defeated the reigning two time defending champs, and current WNBA MVP, A’ja Wilson. The Aces managed to come back from 0-2, but lost the home game, losing the championship spot. After losing the playoffs, the assistant coach for the Aces, Natalie Nakase, announced that she is now the head coach of the new WNBA team, Golden State Valkyries.

Natalie Mitsue Nakase, born April 18, 1980, is an American professional basketball coach and former player. A native of Los Angeles, she played ten seasons in the NBA with the Los Angeles Clippers, and three seasons as first assistant coach with the Las Vegas Aces. Nakase was a walk-on women’s basketball player at UCLA from 1998-2003, where she played her way into the starting lineup and served as team captain for three seasons. She graduated with her bachelor of science in psychology. After graduating, she played professionally for two years in the National Women’s Basketball League (NWBL) with the San Jose Spiders and San Diego Siege. Nakase went on to become the first Asian American head coach in the league. 

Having already won two championships with the Las Vegas Aces, Nakase is hoping to bring her knowledge into the Golden State Valkyries looking for a championship win. But how will the Valkyries, as a new team, build their roster? Well, Golden State will have the ability to select from a pool of available players as designated by each of the current 12 teams. Golden State will have the opportunity to acquire the player contract of, or the negotiating rights to, one available player from each of the current 12 teams.

Golden State’s vision of Valkyries is to demonstrate strong, bold, and fierce women, similar to how the Valkyries from Norse mythology are fearless and unwavering warriors. As the WNBA league is growing quickly every year, with three new teams comingsoon. Among them are Golden State Valkyries, who will be starting their season next year, and two others joining in 2026.