From mentor to peer: How Becky Hammon’s influence helped shape Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase

SAN FRANCISCO Before she became the Golden State Valkyries first head coach in franchise history Natalie Nakase spent her first three years in the WNBA as an assistant on Becky Hammon s staff in Las Vegas Nakase won back-to-back championships with Hammon and the Las Vegas Aces in and The two coaches formed a close bond that saw them create one of the the greater part dominant teams in WNBA history Nakase credited her time with Las Vegas and Hammon as crucial to her coaching career which made Saturday s competition a full circle moment In her first matchup against one of her biggest coaching mentors Nakase and the Valkyries blew out the Aces - at Chase Center The win was Nakase s first marquee supremacy as Golden State s coach Hammon praised her former assistant s dedication and drive One of the things that makes Natalie great is just her work ethic and her willingness to learn Hammon revealed before Saturday s challenge There was I d say maybe hundreds of nights that we were on the phone texting back and forth at two three in the morning because we re just both trying to figure it out She s a candidate of the tournament She unfailingly wants to learn And I think that s a sign of not only a great leader but a great coach Nakase noted she still has a means to go to get to Hammon s level I m trying to learn from her but obviously she s one of the best coaches in the world So yeah I m still working Nakase reported Nakase and Hammon are cut from a similar coaching cloth as both had been the NBA s two longest-tenured women coaches before landing with Las Vegas Hammon learned under legendary San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich and Nakase worked in the Los Angeles Clippers organization for over a decade before they both made their debut with the Aces in In their three-year run together Nakase and Hammon built the Aces into one of the majority of dominant teams in the league With stars such as A ja Wilson Kelsey Plum Chelsea Gray and Jackie Young the Aces compiled an - record while Nakase was on Hammon s coaching staff According to Hammon Nakase had chances to leave the Aces after her first year but opted to continue her rise as a coach in Las Vegas I think it shows a lot of maturity and wisdom that she desired to stay Hammon commented Nakase accepted the job to become Golden State s coach last October after completing her third year on staff with Las Vegas Nakase reported leaving the Aces was a tough decision but felt that this was the right time I didn t even take the interviews my first year Nakase announced Becky was like What are you doing And I m like I love working with you and your staff and I love the players The players are amazing superstars but they re super humble as well And that I think was why we won so much That s really why it was tough to leave Saturday s meeting was like a family reunion Kate Martin and Tiffany Hayes were both on last year s Aces squad and made big impacts on Las Vegas run to last year s semifinals Martin was selected by the Valkyries in December s expansion draft and Hayes signed with Golden State after winning Sixth Participant of the Year last season You want a coach who knows what they re talking about and cares about their players and both do Martin revealed Coach Hammon was great to learn from last year and I m grateful that I still get to be with Natalie this year Related Articles NorCal native WNBA star Chelsea Gray returns to Bay Area It s super dope Valkyries stun Aces behind offensive explosion snap four-game losing streak Valkyries collapse late in loss to Mercury in Phoenix Warriors Brandin Podziemski relishing role as Valkyries super fan after wrist surgery Valkyries Kate Martin takes step toward becoming rotation regular with career night against Lynx Nakase has the Valkyries on the right track even though their record might not reflect multiple wins It s evident that Golden State has built a strong defensive identity under Nakase and the gang has been competitive in almost every championship For Nakase the opportunity to come to the Bay Area wouldn t have happened without Hammon allowing her to chase her dream of becoming a head coach You don t want to sometimes detach yourself obviously from a good winning ecosystem Nakase announced I m grateful for her because a lot of people wouldn t push their assistants away So I m just kind of really grateful that she really nudged me I won t ever forget when I reported her in her office and I was nervous to tell her But when I communicated her we just embraced and we hugged for like the longest time We cried and I knew I made the right decision