After every Golden State Valkyries win, head coach Natalie Nakase always credits her players before saying anything else. And after every loss, Nakase's always willing to take accountability for how the team played instead of throwing her players under the bus. She acknowledges herself last, and even that is rare.
So after an impressive month of basketball from the Valkyries, it's only fitting that Nakase received some well-deserved recognition. The first-year head coach earned the WNBA Coach of the Month award for June, just two months into her coaching tenure. Shortly after the announcement, Nakase once again credited the people around her.
“It's all credit to my staff. I have one of the most brilliant staffs, who work extremely hard till two or three o'clock in the morning cause I'm texting them,” Nakase told reporters. “And credit to my players. So coachable.
“And I'm not coaching myself. I'm coaching these players who are highly motivated. They're open-minded. They don't mind getting pushed and held to a standard that maybe they haven't been held to. Very grateful.”
In her press conference after defeating the Seattle Storm, Nakase became visibly emotional when asked if she envisioned the Valkyries being this successful this quickly.
“I want to come off as humble as possible. But at the same time, I know what these players have done for [the past] three months. And it's that they work their asses off. They work extremely hard.” Nakase said, voice breaking. “I'm just gonna be honest, I'm grateful to be their head coach. All coachable players.”
Fueled by their defense, the Valkyries went 7-4 during that stretch. They held opponents to 75.2 points per game and tallied a 96.8 defensive rating, both only behind the Minnesota Lynx for best in the league.
Golden State also averaged a league-high 37.6 rebounds. Behind their defense, the Valkyries secured signature wins against A'Ja Wilson's Las Vegas Aces and Caitlin Clark's Indiana Fever.
An elite defense has been at the forefront of Nakase's vision for the Valkyries. And after the Valkyries' performance in June, it's come to fruition. After securing their fourth win in five games to close the month, Veronica Burton emphasized how the team leans on its elite defense.
“We are a team that is reliant on our defense,” Burton said. “When we execute on that end, we get to turn it into our offense. Each and every player on our team, I think, takes pride in that.”
However, the feather in Nakase's cap that helped her earn Coach of the Month was the fact that the Valkyries did all of this without a majority of their players. With five players at EuroBasket for the second half of June, the Valkyries barely missed a beat.
Nakase and the team persevered with their emergency hardship signings, namely Laeticia Amihere, Kaitlyn Chen, and Chloe Bibby. The Valkyries went 5-2 after the EuroBasket players departed with all three players succeeding in the roles Nakase gave them. And Amihere and Chen's efforts may have earned them a permanent spot on Nakase's roster.
For a team that was not expected to be in the hunt for a playoff seed, at 9-7, the Valkyries have surpassed all expectations. And for as much credit as Nakase gives her players, she's also a big part of Golden State's historic opening. But at the end of the day, Nakase doesn't need the credit or accolades that come with winning.
“Individual awards are great and everything, but I care about winning,” Nakase said. “It's a great honor. It's a credit to my staff and my players. But I want to win, bottom line.”
