Kenzo Fukuda Articles - Page 2

While longtime Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra has high expectations as the likely head coach of Team USA at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, he has the approval of Steve Kerr. After the Golden State Warriors’ practice on Friday afternoon, the former head coach of Team USA’s 2024 gold medal squad discussed how […]

SAN FRANCISCO– While the Golden State Warriors’ bench mob put together a 51-point fourth quarter to take the preseason win over the Portland Trail Blazers, the late-game comeback overshadowed the fact that the main rotation did not impress in the first half. With the players expected to contribute meaningful minutes in full swing, the Warriors […]

SAN FRANCISCO – With messy contract negotiations out of the way, the next step for the Golden State Warriors and Jonathan Kuminga is figuring out how to maximize his fit with the rest of the team on the court. In the Warriors’ 111-103 preseason win over the Los Angeles Lakers, Steve Kerr used their time […]

SAN FRANCISCO– Warriors basketball is back at Chase Center as Golden State kicked off its preseason with a 111-103 win over the Los Angeles Lakers who did not play LeBron James or Luka Doncic. And while it’s impossible to come away with any season-implicating revelations, Golden State looked balanced and smooth in their first outing […]

SAN FRANCISCO– To put it kindly, the Golden State Warriors are not young, at least in NBA terms. The Warriors enter the 2025-26 season with the second-oldest average age in the league at around 27.53 years old, ahead of only the Los Angeles Clippers. And with four of their most crucial players in Stephen Curry, […]

SAN FRANCISCO – After a summer of tenuous contract negotiations, Golden State Warriors’ Jonathan Kuminga is officially back in the fold – but where exactly does that leave both sides as the season quickly approaches? Donning a new jersey number, switching from No. 00 to No. 1, the fifth-year wing went through his first practice […]

SAN FRANCISCO– Like any top-heavy team, the success of the Golden State Warriors this season obviously hinges on the play of Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, and Jimmy Butler. But a good chunk of them and the Warriors’ effectiveness on the court this season also rests on the shoulders of stretch five center Al Horford, whose […]

SAN FRANCISCO – With Jonathan Kuminga’s contract extension finally inked with the Golden State Warriors, the remaining free agent dominoes have fallen into place. Golden State officially announced the signings of Al Horford, De’Anthony Melton, and Seth Curry, wrapping up an unusually long free agency and allowing the team to get those players into the […]

The long-standing negotiations between Jonathan Kuminga and the Golden State Warriors have finally come to an end. The two sides agreed to a two-year, $48.5 million contract that contains a team option for the 2026-27 NBA season, league sources told ClutchPoints on Tuesday. It’s a win-win scenario for both sides. It gives Kuminga the money […]

SAN FRANCISCO– With the Jonathan Kuminga contract situation with the Golden State Warriors pretty much settled, there is another negotiation process flying under the radar– head coach Steve Kerr’s. The architect of the Dubs’ four championships enters the final year of his current contract with Golden State. But while urgency tends to dominate most negotiation […]

Janelle Salaün added to the Golden State Valkyries’ award total as the French rookie was selected to the WNBA All-Rookie team, the league announced today. Salaün joins a stacked All-Rookie team, headlined by Dallas’s Rookie of the Year Paige Bueckers as well as Mystics’ Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen, and Storm’s Dominique Malonga. The 24-year-old […]

SAN FRANCISCO– Chemistry goes a long way towards winning in the NBA, and Jimmy Butler knows that. Ahead of the Golden State Warriors’ training camp this week, Butler hosted a player-led mini camp at his own home in San Diego. For Butler, it’s something he hadn’t done in the past, which speaks to the joy […]

SAN FRANCISCO– As Jonathan Kuminga’s contract negotiations drag into the preseason, a slew of questions regarding the 22-year-old forward’s future in Golden State hang over him and the team with the two sides seeking a resolution to a long back-and-forth. And while Kuminga was absent from the Warriors’ media day to answer those questions himself, […]

Why were the Golden State Valkyries so successful, so quickly, in just their first season? It’s a question on everyone’s minds as the most successful expansion team in WNBA history transitions into the offseason, and the long, reflective conversations about the season that just transpired begin to percolate. Ohemaa Nyanin is aware of everyone’s scramble […]

OAKLAND– With a historic inaugural season in the WNBA officially in the books, the Golden State Valkyries have officially transitioned into the offseason, a significant one at that. At her exit interview, general manager, Ohemaa Nyanin, acknowledged the task at hand for the Valkyries as the team looks to build on their 23-21 season in […]

While Natalie Nakase downplayed her own importance when it came to winning the 2025 WNBA Coach of the Year award, instead opting to credit her staff, players, and the Golden State Valkyries organization for what they achieved this season, she still understands the significance of her accomplishment. At her Coach of the Year awards ceremony, […]

OAKLAND – The first season in Golden State Valkyries history is in the books and one for the ages. From shattering the record for most wins in an inaugural season to becoming the first expansion franchise to reach the playoffs, the Valkyries accomplished far more than anyone expected from them. And while their season ended […]

SAN JOSE– The Golden State Valkyries were one shot away from saving their historic season. One shot away from forcing a WNBA playoffs  Game 3 winner-takes-all against the juggernaut Minnesota Lynx. One shot away from defying the odds one more time, as they’ve done in their inaugural run in the WNBA. But the Valkyries’ expansion […]

After leading the Golden State Valkyries’ historic inaugural season, Natalie Nakase has earned the 2025 WNBA Coach of the Year award, the league announced today. In just her first season as a head coach, Nakase led the Valkyries to a 23-21 record, the most in WNBA history by an expansion team, as well as the eighth […]

SAN JOSE– After winning the 2025 WNBA Most Improved Player of the Year award, the highest achievement of her career to date, Golden State Valkyries’ guard Veronica Burton made sure to express how much her teammates’ support means to her. At the Valkyries’ open practice ahead of Game 2 versus the Minnesota Lynx, Burton recounted […]

SAN JOSE– After Natalie Nakase blasted the officiating in Game 1 of the Golden State Valkyries’ first-round WNBA playoffs series against the Minnesota Lynx, Natalie Nakase stood by her words at the team’s open practice at the SAP Center in San Jose. When a reporter asked Nakase if she felt the Game 1 loss was […]

Golden State Valkyries point guard Veronica Burton has been named the 2025 WNBA’s Most Improved Player after a career season in the expansion team’s first season, the league announced today. Burton started all 44 games for Golden State this season, averaging career highs across the board with 11.9 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 6.0 assists per […]

MINNEAPOLIS – There was a moment after the first quarter where it looked like the Golden State Valkyries were on the precipice of doing the unexpected. The ball was flowing, the shots were falling, and the team had a sizable lead on the juggernaut Minnesota Lynx. That moment dissipated not long after in the second […]

MINNEAPOLIS– Ahead of Game 1 of the Golden State Valkyries’ first-round playoff matchup with the No. 1-seeded Minnesota Lynx, the team is on the same page regarding the task ahead of them. It’s no secret the Valkyries are heavy underdogs against a playoff-proven team that boasts talent like MVP-candidate Napheesa Collier, DPOY frontrunner Alanna Smith, […]

There’s no questioning that the Golden State Valkyries are the underdogs in their very first WNBA playoff series– they’ve drawn the No. 1-seeded Minnesota Lynx in the first round. And while the Valkyries’ feel-good season has been nothing less than magical, it’s hard to see them upsetting MVP-candidate Napheesa Collier and company, a team that […]

The Golden State Valkyries had ample opportunity to secure the No. 6 seed in the WNBA playoffs. Three cracks at it in fact. And while each crack at it was against playoff-bound teams, all the Valkyries had to do was win one of them. But in their final opportunity, the regular season finale, the Valkyries […]

While the Golden State Valkyries have already secured their trip to the postseason, it doesn’t soften the blow of another loss decided by a single possession. The Valkyries came up short against the Seattle Storm, falling 76-73 on the road in a game that would have locked up the sixth seed in the WNBA playoffs. […]

SAN FRANCISCO – Spiritually, the Golden State Valkyries’ regular-season home finale was actually the previous game, when the Valkyries clinched a historic playoff birth in a come-from-behind win. In their actual final home game of the season, the Valkyries’ five-game winning streak came to a grinding halt in their 78-72 loss to the Minnesota Lynx. […]

The Golden State Valkyries are the feel-good story of the 2025 WNBA season. From becoming the first expansion team to clinch a playoff spot to selling out every home game this season at Chase Center, the Valkyries can call their first year in the W an all-around success. But if you ask the players or […]

SAN FRANCISCO – It wasn’t easy, but like the story of the Golden State Valkyries this season, they found a way. All season long, the Valkyries have defied all the expectations of a first-year expansion franchise. They’ve broken the record for most wins by an expansion franchise. They’ve sold out every home game at Chase […]

SAN FRANCISCO – It’s been quite the season for first-year head coach Natalie Nakase and the Golden State Valkyries. They’ve won the most games ever for a WNBA expansion franchise. They’ve surpassed every preseason expectation. And with Nakase and her team on the precipice of the playoffs, she took the time to reflect on herself […]

SAN FRANCISCO– It took four tries, but the Golden State Valkyries took down the New York Liberty, in a hard-fought 66-58 win at home for their fourth win in a row. In a game where offense was hard to come by in the second half, the Valkyries held onto the steady play of Temi Fagbenle […]

SAN FRANCISCO–  It’s no surprise Natalie Nakase has the Golden State Valkyries close to clinching a playoff birth. She comes from one of the most impressive coaching trees in professional basketball, with championship-winning coaches Tyrone Lue, Doc Rivers, and Becky Hammon as her mentors. But of all her talented mentors, the one Nakase has thought […]

SAN FRANCISCO– The Golden State Valkyries completed their season series sweep of the Indiana Fever in a comfortable 75-63 win on the back-end of a back-to-back. With the win, the Valkyries leapfrogged the Fever and the Seattle Storm to the sixth seed in the conference. And in a game that dragged on due to multiple […]

SAN FRANCISCO– It’s no secret the WNBA is suffering from a league-wide injury problem this season. According to The IX Basketball’s WNBA injury tracker, over 117 players have missed 901 games this season, surpassing the numbers from 2024. And the Golden State Valkyries in particular are no strangers to that issue. The Valkyries have had […]

SAN FRANCISCO — To describe Golden State Valkyries head coach Natalie Nakase as a “true student of the game,” as many of her colleagues have described her as, doesn’t fully express the sheer depths of her singular, unparalleled obsession with basketball. Need an example? At the team’s open practice this week, in the middle of […]

SAN FRANCISCO – The Golden State Valkyries played like a team that had five days off in their 99-62 blowout win over the Washington Mystics. Down multiple players to injury, including Tiffany Hayes, who was ruled out with an illness before the game, the Valkyries blitzed the Mystics on both ends of the court. Golden […]

If the Golden State Valkyries needed any more validation for their historic success in their inaugural season in the WNBA, look no further than one of the next expansion franchise’s latest front-office moves. The Portland Fire officially named the Valkyries’ Vice President of Basketball Operations, Vanja Černivec, as its general manager. “I am honored to […]

While the Dallas Wings are still in rebuild mode as the second-worst team in the WNBA, they have Paige Bueckers, one of the most prolific rookies in WNBA history. And after her historic 44-point game against the Los Angeles Sparks, it’s obvious that Bueckers can singlehandedly win the Wings a game if opponents don’t take […]