In professional basketball, expansion franchises are rarely expected to succeed immediately but in 2025, the Golden State Valkyries have rewritten expectations, guided by head coach Natalie Nakase.
The WNBA’s history underscores that reality-no new team has ever reached the playoffs in its first year, and contenders typically need five or more seasons to develop but that’s not the story in San Francisco.
The franchise was born from the Golden State Warriors owner Joe Lacob‘s ambition to invest in women’s basketball following his NBA team’s 2022 championship.
And for Lacob, the main crucial step was clear: finding the coach who could define the Valkyries’ identity and that search ended in Las Vegas, Nevada when he met Nakase.
The pair held talks at Jardin, a quiet restaurant inside the Encore hotel, Joe set the bar at the very beginning and it turns out that the prospective HC was more than willing to take on the challenge.
“I have high expectations, and we might as well get that right up front. You have to win a title in five years,” Lacob told Nakase, who had only served as an assistant head coach with the Las Vegas Aces prior.
However, even her first season at the helm of the latest WNBA team was not simple as she was tasked with making a roster work with seven international players, assembling a roster that represented the United States, France, Belgium, Australia, Canada, Britain, and Italy.
That’s because the team’s general manager, Ohemaa Nyanin, had initially hoped to acquire Paige Bueckers, but Dallas was unwilling to part with the No. 1 draft pick so they were forced into an unconventional method.
The result was a collection of overlooked and underestimated talent rather than a star-studded lineup as expansion franchises in the WNBA receive little institutional support: no guaranteed lottery picks and few advantages in free agency.
How did Nakase turn the Valkyries from WNBA start-up to championship hopefuls?
It’s a sink-or-swim mentality and for Nakase, the challenge was clear-take a team with limited resources and forge it into a competitor or risk losing her job when half-a-decade has passed.
Her approach relied on discipline, defensive structure, and maximizing the strengths of each player and she has found great success in her endeavours with the team boasting a 23-18 record in the Western Conference.
While the Valkyries‘ offense remains modest at 78.5 points per game, their defensive record is remarkable as they allow only 29 points per game in the paint-the lowest figure in the league.
That identity, built on collective resilience, has proven more effective than any single superstar as Golden State find themselves placed ahead of the likes of the Indiana Fever, Chicago Sky, Connecticut Sun and Seattle Storm in the WNBA.
It sees the team clinch a spot in the postseason and with their defense able to keep them in most games, they will surely fancy their chances of going all the way to the WNBA Finals and so much of the credit goes to Nakase for her impeccable basketball intelligence.
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