Natalie Nakase makes history as the first Asian American head coach in the WNBA

In preparation for the upcoming season, Nakase spent January overseas for free agency recruitment. She’s also focusing on how she can best ensure team mental health and wellbeing. Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla gave Nakase a book, The Art of Learning by Josh Waizkin, which talks a lot about learning and mastery, and Nakase hopes to apply the psychological principles in communicating with her players, especially as WNBA viewership continues to grow. “I've been really big on mental health, self care, staying balanced, staying present, staying where your feet are,” she says.

She also reached out to mentor Erik Spoelstra, the head coach of the Miami Heat and the first Filipino and Asian American head coach in the NBA. Spoelstra also started out as a video intern. What did it feel like to be Asian American in this space? “He just was really great in terms of supporting females in the NBA,” Nakase says. “But more importantly, (he said) just stay true to yourself now, that's all you can really do.”

Paving the way for more Asian representation in professional sports 

In the WNBA, less than one percent of the players are reportedly of Asian descent, according to the 2022 Racial and Gender Report Card published by the University of Central Florida. In 2024, Kaylynne Troung became the first Vietnamese woman to be drafted from Gonzaga University to the Washington Mystics before she was waived in May. As she steps through that metaphorical door, Nakase hopes that she can open more doors for more Asian Americans to become head coaches across professional sports. It’s a responsibility she doesn’t take lightly. “I’m taking it on as like, ‘How can I help? How many people can I touch? How many people can I motivate?’” she says. “I really think this is a space for anyone. Representation matters. If you see her, you could be her.”

Her influence has already inspired other girls. Years ago, when she worked for the Clippers, Nakase made time to give a pep talk to her high school’s basketball team before their season began.

“She’s intense. Speaks directly to her point. She speaks to what she foresees. Setting it out there,” says Daniel Roussel, the current coach at Marina.

When asked if there are any Asian American current up-and-coming basketball players she’s watching, Nakase points to University of Connecticut point guard Kaitlyn Chen, who previously averaged in the double digits during her three years at Princeton. “She is amazing. I think she has a high ceiling. I think she plays with a lot of grit, but also with a lot of intelligence. So she's someone I think that's definitely pushing the needle,” Nakase says.

The admiration is mutual. 

As the first Asian American coach in the WNBA, Nakase is inspiring other Asian women to rise in the sports world.

Courtesy of the Golden State Valkyries

“It’s really cool to be recognized by Natalie Nakase. There aren’t many Asians in women’s basketball, so it’s inspiring to see someone in such a high-level position of Asian descent. I think visibility of Asians playing, coaching, and working in basketball is really important to inspire the next generation and show them that they can have high goals in the sport and achieve them,” Chen tells JoySauce in a written statement. Chen and her teammates Paige Bueckers and Azzi Fudd went on to win the 2025 NCAA championship title earlier this month. And on WNBA draft night on Monday, Chen stood up from the crowd among her UConn community as the Golden State drafted her as the third round, 30th pick. She became the first woman of Taiwanese descent to be drafted into the WNBA.

Honoring her father

One important person who won’t be able to see Nakase’s Valkyries debut next month is Gary Nakase, her father, who died three years ago. According to Natalie Nakase, her father worked hard and protected his daughters from knowing how sick he got in his latter years. “He didn't want to make our lives complicated. He didn't want to put any pressure (on me). To me, that's like the highest, selfless act,” she says.

His passing was a tough time for Nakase, who credits her father as her first phone call for anything happening in her life, and for cultivating her love for basketball, and her grit. That moment was “the hardest thing I’ve ever dealt with” she says, adding that grief was a difficult and lonely process. “There’s no guidebook, like, no one gives you a book and says, ‘This is how you heal with your dad or your best friend passing,’” she says.

Her father’s spirit continues to inspire and prepare her, instilling what she calls “the basketball heart.” Surviving and healing from that type of grief made everything else, the basketball pressures of the outside world, seem less scary. “With the Golden State Valkyries, I see it as an opportunity,” Nakase says. “I don't see it as pressure. I see it as like, ‘I get to do this.’”