Golden State Valkyries head coach Natalie Nakase only half remembers her experience playing in one of the oldest statewide Asian-American high school tournaments in California, the North South Tournament.
“It was like 30 years ago,” Nakase laughed when asked if she recalls any fond memories from when she was invited to play in an All-Star-style tournament designed to showcase the premier Asian-American basketball talent in the state.
Titled “North South,” the tournament takes the best Asian-American high school players from Northern California and Southern California and pits the two regions against one another.
Nakase, one of the most decorated high school basketball players in SoCal, was one of the first classes of players to play in the tournament back in the late 90s. All this happened before she later went on to UCLA, where she joined the women's basketball team as a walk-on freshman.
“I just remember it being very competitive. But because it was so long ago, I mean, I'm aging myself right now. I just remember it being a lot more competitive than what I was anticipating. I can't even remember if I won or not, but I do remember gaining a lot of friendships out of it.”
As Nakase thought long and hard about North South, her eyes found one of her players, Kaitlyn Chen, the first-ever Taiwanese-American drafted in the WNBA, walking along the practice facility court.
“Did you play North South?” Nakase called out. Chen replied with a quick “Yeah,” and head nod as she meandered over to a huddle of reporters waiting to ask her some questions.
Kaitlyn Chen: The one who ‘made it'
Chen, the fan-favorite of Golden State Valkyrie fans and UConn fans alike, is a more recent alum of the North South tournament. So while Nakase's memories of North South are a bit lost to time, Chen remembers her recent experience at North South fondly.
“I had a great time playing North South because I never actually played like real Asian ball,” Chen told ClutchPoints. “I never had a real Asian league team, but it was fun playing with the girls. Obviously, there aren't a ton of us out there, so just to have the best of the best competing against each other, I feel like it was a great place for us.”
In the WNBA, only 1.5% of players self-identify as Asian-American, and in the NBA, it is even less so. On a youth level, a 2019 analysis by the Aspen Institute concluded that only 37.5% of Asian-American and Pacific Islander teens played sports regularly, less than the 42.3% of white teens and 42.4% of Black teens who did.
So for Chen, Asian-American tournaments like North South are spaces for the community to demonstrate their talent and skill and challenge the myth that Asian-Americans aren't “athletic.” Many alumni, like both Valkyries members, went on to play college hoops, with some going even further to professional leagues.
As Chen narrates in the video: “For 30 years, it's been more than just a game. It's a movement, a celebration, a legacy built on talent, culture, and an unshakable community.”
Valkyries' player-coach duo
If you stay behind at a Valkyries' practice, you'll usually find Nakase and Chen at a court on the far end of the facility, going over something. Sometimes it's walking through point-guard-specific scenarios. Other times, it's Chen listening to Nakase's coaching advice.
From afar, it might look like one of those player-coach relationships you see in a movie, one where Nakase sees herself in Chen thanks to their shared connection as Asian-Americans trailblazers in basketball.
Perhaps there is a little bit of truth in that assumption. But it's not as simple as “They're both Asian!” Before North South was brought up to either of them, neither processed the fact that they had this shared 30-year connection.
“Honestly, no,” Chen said to ClutchPoints when asked if she and her coach have talked about the North South connection.
Social media has run rampant with the baseless assumption that Chen gets playing time not because of her skill as a basketball player but because of her ethnicity and popularity. But that couldn't be farther from the truth.
“No. 1, Kaitlyn is a joy to be around,” the Valkyries coach told reporters when asked how Chen has earned a role in her rotation.
“She has great energy, and anyone knows that coming day to day to work and having someone with smile on their face uplifts everybody…She challenges herself. She asks me questions all the time. ‘How can I do better in this play? Do you like me in this action, or should I have done this?' She is constantly asking questions to learn.”
Their bond is built on basketball. They just so happen to be the first Asian-American head coach and the first Taiwanese-American player in the WNBA. And that doesn't erase their understanding of their impact as role models for the community.
Natalie Nakase on Chen and North South's impact
Community is something Nakase understands better than anyone. It's at the top of her reasons for her Valkyries' success this season. And when it comes to spaces like North South, Nakase understands how important they are to aspiring Asian-American hoopers.
“I think it's important because a player like Kaitlyn, who's made it, I didn't make it; someone like Kaitlyn to me is an inspiration to everyone,” Nakase told ClutchPoints. Nakase pointed to her nephew, not far away. He was helping some of the Valkyrie players with their post-practice shootaround.
“It's even an inspiration for my nephew. Just to see someone who looks like them. [Someone] that's probably grown up in a [similar] environment that maybe didn't promote, ‘Hey, maybe your goal is to play basketball?' Sometimes that matters with her circle and her environment.”
For Nakase and Chen, the importance of North South is not the prestige of being one of the best 20 Asian-American high schoolers in California. Their strongest memories are the people, the competition they faced, and the friendships they made.
North South is important because it makes Asian-American hoop dreams feel attainable. Hoop dreams feel within the realm of possibility at North South and with role models like Chen and Nakase. And for Nakase, she feels nothing but pride for Chen in her role as one of the ones who “made it.”
“It's just really neat to see her push through all the barriers or maybe the naysayers that she has to face,” the Valkyries coach continued. “She gets a lot more attention than I did, and I didn't have social media. So I can't even imagine handling how Kaitlyn's been handling everything. So she deserves a round of applause for that type of maturity and that type of pressure.”
