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 to reverse-engineer the success of Golden State this season. In her final media availability of the season, the Golden State Valkyries general manager said the biggest question everyone's had about the most successful WNBA expansion franchise to date.
“I think a lot of people wanted to know what the secret sauce was, and how we did it, and why did people buy in so quickly?” Nyanin told reporters in her reflections on the 2025 season.
And while Valkyries' general manager joked that she would never share the self-stylized “secret sauce,” she emphasized culture, vision, and connectivity, three things that time and time again seem to lead back to one person: Natalie Nakase.
“What Valkyrie basketball has meant is that on any given night with any given roster, we can win basketball games,” Nyanin said. “The humility and the drive to win [weren't] held in any one person, which I think is a testament to the type of culture that coach Natalie [Nakase] and the rest of the staff built.”
Success at the scale Golden State accomplished in Year 1 is never as cut-and-dry as one person. But then you hear Nyanin crediting Nakase for building the culture. Then you ask the assistant coaches, and they credit her for getting everyone on the same page. And then you have players like Veronica Burton and Kaila Charles thanking her for revitalizing their careers.
And at a certain point, the question becomes, what's Natalie Nakase's secret sauce?
The Clippers and where it all began
Hard work has always been at the core of who Nakase is. For Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue, Nakase's work ethic was the first thing that stood out to them when the two met on Doc Rivers' staff.
“We first built a relationship because we used to play two-on-two and three-on-three all the time,” Lue told ClutchPoints. He recounted the basketball runs the Clippers coaches organized in their downtime, remembering Nakase's competitiveness vividly.
“Just seeing how hard she was trying to compete against me and stuff like that,” Lue noted. “And then it just carried on to the basketball stuff. Just always being inquisitive and always wanting to know different things.”
Lue also pointed out the tangible results of the work she did for the Clippers as their player development coach, crediting her for helping with Terrance Mann's development.
But Mann's not the only player Nakase's helped. Undrafted wing Amir Coffey talked about how Nakase helped his development when he was with Los Angeles. She's even been a part of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's early development, before he became the MVP and an NBA Champion.
That contagious work ethic she's passed down to countless players originated from her father, Gary Nakase. Gary was the one who pushed Natalie, the one who nurtured her love of basketball– he built a court in their family backyard, as well as a weight room, installing lights so Natalie and her sisters could play after dark.
“He raised me in a very tough environment, to where he made work extremely important,” Nakase said earlier this season. “Hard work was the priority. That’s what I know, that’s what he built me on.”
Translating hard work into results
Even though he's watching Nakase's success from afar, Lue believes Nakase's work ethic is a big part of her immediate success in Golden State.
“[It's] because of her hard work. And I think that the players, just for me, knowing her, and just think they can see her confidence,” Lue said. He emphasized how hard it is to get players to buy into the vision as a first-year head coach, especially with a team.
“When you prepare and you're confident the way she is, I think it's easy for those players to really gravitate towards her and understand, you know, what she wants and what she was trying to accomplish.”
What Nakase sought out to accomplish was a team full of “killers,” as she described it on the first day of training camp. A team full of unselfish players willing to move the ball on offense and hound opponents on defense. In their exit interviews, Kaitlyn Chen and Monique Billings reflected on how Nakase got them and the team to buy into her vision.
“She's just been so honest with us. That's something I really appreciate.” Chen said. “She gives us her all, knowing we're going to do the same in return and that we will always have her back. She's definitely pushed us at times, but it's only made us better, and we've grown from there.”
“I appreciate her giving us the platform to be great. She let us go out there and be ourselves. Her affirming that meant a lot throughout the season,” Billings echoed. “She stays up late watching film, making sure we're prepared and ready, and just wanting to be the best she can. I think that's inspiring… As players, we recognized that and then showed up and wanted to do our job even better.”
Working through tragedy and loss
As dedicated as Nakase is to her dream job, she understands how demanding the position can be on her emotional well-being.
About an hour and a half before tipoff against the Dallas Wings, the game in which the Valkyries would later win to clinch a spot in the playoffs, Nakase spoke candidly about what the season up to that point had taught her about herself.
“I do need to care about my mental health as well,” Nakase said a few long moments after receiving the question.
“There have always been moments when I've wanted to call my dad. I am a little bit proud I've been able to survive… I'm starting to really build a thicker skin as I'm going through this healing process. Because I know I wish my dad was here. Especially with [this being] my first job being a head coach, this was part of my dream with him.”
Ahead of the Valkyries’ big game, Natalie Nakase reflected on her father Gary Nakase who passed away in 2021:
“There have always been moments where I wanted to call my dad… I wish my dad was here, with my first job and being a head coach. This was part of my dream with him.” pic.twitter.com/fmejJPmWkU
— Kenzo Fukuda (@kenzofuku) September 5, 2025
Lue is all too familiar with the struggles of juggling the personal and professional. In 2023, Lue spoke openly about losing seven family members midseason and how he was unable to attend any of their funerals because the Clippers were struggling at the time.
“It's tough because she's a lot like me. I went through the same type of stuff in Cleveland,” Lue said. “When you dive into it, you know, you're diving all the way.
“The first thing, when I took over the head coach here with the Clippers, Mr. [Steve] Ballmer asked me was, ‘What's your release?' And I was like, I don't have a release. When I'm like, when I'm in it, I'm in it, you know? It's just kind of hard. You feel like, [you're] cheating the game, if you're not really locked into what you're trying to do.”
Reflecting on a special season
Lue spoke honestly about trying to find a release for himself, pointing to his conversations with Ballmer and Clippers' President of Basketball Operations Lawrence Frank.
“They've helped me a lot with understanding how to have a release and not just be basketball 24/7, because you can drive yourself crazy,” Lue explained. “I talked to her a lot about that. Just having different avenues, different things she wants to do, just to have fun and enjoy [it] because once you go down that hole, it's hard to get out of.”
For Nakase, she's leaned into the support she's found (and built) in Golden State.
“The reflection for me has been [being] proud of the fact that I built a new family here,” Nakase said. “I'm not gonna say exactly what I told every player, but I did hug them in the locker room, and I sat with them for a couple minutes on why I love them, why I'm so proud of them.”
With a pivotal offseason incoming and uncertainty around the CBA, Nakase understands that what she and her players were able to accomplish was special and ephemeral.
“This is just kind of a life thing for me… I lost people, and I've what I've learned from myself too, because I didn't grow up saying I love you a lot, it's Japanese culture, so I was told– don't miss a moment when you get to get a chance to say, I love you. Don't miss it…” Nakase said.
“That's the thing that I'm [most] proud of. I get to share that love that is kind of like burning inside me to give to the players. Because I knew in that moment, I wasn't going to see them as a connected group, because everyone had to go off into their own ways.”
Asked Natalie Nakase if she’s had time to reflect on what the Valkyries were able to accomplished, amidst offseason uncertainty.
Nakase shared the conversations she had with each player and her own experience with making sure to say “I love you,” to the people she cares about. pic.twitter.com/2buryxvvxT
— Kenzo Fukuda (@kenzofuku) September 23, 2025
The secret sauce?
Nakase's secret sauce is a mixture of things. It's hard work, it's confidence, it's vulnerability, it's self-awareness and unselfishness, and it's empowering her players. It's Nakase being herself.
“This was my first year, and I'm just being very honest, it was trial and error,” Nakase said. “I didn't know it was going to be a winning culture, other than we knew the amount of work and heart we're going to put behind it.”
Nothing guarantees Golden State a championship; plenty of hardworking, culture-oriented teams have come short of the mountain top. But they can get you one step closer. It puts you in a position to make a run at greatness. And for Nakase, it's one step at a time.
“It's a collaboration from the top,” Nakase noted. “And then for me, just coaching through my heart and coaching through my effort, I can maximize everyone's heart and effort. I think winning then follows.”
