MINNEAPOLIS, MN - SEPTEMBER 14: Head Coach Natalie Nakase of the Golden State Valkyries looks on during the game against the Minnesota Lynx on September 14, 2025 at Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges an …
OAKLAND, Calif. - The Golden State Valkyries are having quite the inaugural season. In addition to making it into the playoffs, the team has led the WNBA in attendance records, and its head coach has been named coach of the year.
In her first season as a WNBA head coach, Natalie Nakase was on Wednesday named the 2025 State Street Investment Management SPY WNBA Coach of the Year.
Nakase received 53 of 72 votes from a national panel of sportswriters and broadcasters. The second place coach, Karl Smesko of the Atlanta Dream, garnered 15 votes.
A strong first season
The backstory:
Under Nakase's leadership, the Valkyries have set a record for WNBA wins by an expansion team in its first season, with 23 victories since its first game in May. The team also became the first in the league to qualify for the playoffs in its first season.
The Valkyries got off to an inauspicious start, winning only two of its first five games. Nakase led the team to win seven of its next nine games, a feat which earned her the title of WNBA Coach of the Month in June. She also guided the team through multiple winning streaks in the final weeks of the season — four victories between Aug. 9 to 15 and five victories from Aug. 24 to Sept. 4.
The Valkyries have held opponents to league lows of 76.3 points per game and 40.5% shooting from the field. Golden State has made a WNBA-high 9.7 three-point shots per game. Guard Veronica Burton won the 2025 Kia WNBA Most Improved Player Award, and forward Kayla Thornton was selected for the AT&T WNBA All-Star Game for the first time.
Nakase was hired to be the Valkyries head coach in October 2024, after she served for three seasons as an assistant coach for the Las Vegas Aces. During her tenure with that team, she helped Las Vegas win back-to-back WNBA championships in 2022 and 2023. Prior to joining that team, Nakase spent 10 seasons with the Los Angeles Clippers, where she finished her tenure as an assistant coach.