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 about lately and the one her coaching style and philosophy emulate, perhaps the most, is Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla. Not long after Golden State hired Nakase, she connected with Mazzulla and shadowed the coach for the entire Celtics offseason.
“I got to pick Joe Mazzulla's brain in the offseason. Just because he's a young coach who had expectations of winning championships. Banners are the only thing that's acceptable in Boston,” Nakase said, a circumstance that draws parallels to the high expectations of Joe Lacob and the Warriors set for basketball in the Bay Area.
Asked Natalie Nakase about the offseason she spent with Joe Mazzulla and how it’s shaped her coaching style:
“I wouldn’t be where I am without my mentors… What I pulled from Joe Mazzulla was, his staff is so connected… I was like, ‘I want a staff where there’s no hierarchy. pic.twitter.com/NDy1SMnnmS
— Kenzo Fukuda (@kenzofuku) September 3, 2025
For an entire summer, Nakase got a first-hand experience from the unorthodox self-professed “psycho” behind the Celtics' 2024 Championship. In Noa Dalzell's story with SB Nation, Nakase cited his win-or-die mentality, his highly detailed preparation, and the cohesion among him and his coaching staff.
“Just very lucky that he was able to give me the amount of time that he did. And the insight. Again, [what] I pulled from Joe Mazzulla was that his staff [is] connected. The first day watching practice, I was like, ‘Who's the bench coach? Who's the [player development coach]? Who's the video guy?' I could not tell who was who because everyone took part in coaching.”
No “hierarchy” for Valkyries' Natalie Nakase or Celtics' Joe Mazzulla
For Nakase, Mazzulla's culture of collaboration was one of the biggest takeaways from her offseason with him and the Celtics. It's why Nakase's big on crediting her assistant coaches and scouting department whenever possible. It's why, after wins lately, Nakase's had the assistant coaches do the post-game speech, to give them opportunities to lead.
“I was like, ‘Wow, I want that for my coaching staff.' Where there's no hierarchy,” Nakase said after witnessing the Celtics coaching staff's cohesion. “I think when you have no hierarchy, it just keeps everyone grounded. [There's] a sense of humility where no one's bigger than the team.”
And Nakase talked not only with Mazzulla but also with his assistants. They explained to her that “Joe's just like one of us.”
“Everyone has a voice, everyone is empowered, and that's what I got to take. Along with a lot of other things,” Nakase said, hinting at some potential tactical and schematic insight from the Celtics' mastermind. “But that was the main thing I really wanted to ingrain in my culture.”
