May 17, 2025
Nakase absorbs all parts of the Valkyries’ very big day
Golden State's 17-point loss is beside the point for a sellout opening-night crowd, but not for the head coach, who knows her team has work to do
SAN FRANCISCO — Golden State Valkyries head coach Natalie Nakase got to Chase Center by 8 a.m. on Friday — the biggest day of her professional career — blasted the music during shootaround (a little Rihanna and some 90’s R&B), made her game cards and started a series of meetings with her coaches before deciding in the early afternoon to go on a walk around the arena for a vibe check.
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By the time she sat in front of a full media room at her first pregame press conference, just a couple of hours before the Valkyries tipped-off their chapter of WNBA history in front of a sellout crowd of more than 18,000 blissfully enthusiastic fans, Nakase looked relaxed, happy and sure about what she wanted for her team in their first game.
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Asked how the Valkyries would match up with a Los Angeles Sparks team with superior size, she responded, “Speed.” How she felt about this historic day, “Ready.” If her team had established its identity yet, “We did it day one in camp. Killers. That’s our identity.”
It’s that sense of surety that makes Nakase such a strong fit for this new franchise.
The Valkyries lost their debut game to the Los Angeles Sparks, 82-67, thanks to a 37-point night by Sparks guard Kelsey Plum and a tough night taking care of the ball — Golden State turned it over 22 times, which led to 25 Los Angeles points.
The violet-clad crowd clearly didn’t care at all about a 17-point loss. They rocked the house throughout the game, cheering at every opportunity. At the end of the game, they gave the Valkyries a standing ovation, the experience of finally having a WNBA team in the Bay Area clearly more important than the result, at least for now.
Nakase, however, cares enough for everyone about results. She will focus on cleaning up the turnovers, and finding a better offensive pace as she continues to play combinations of players in search of the right group. But she wasn’t disappointed. Her team has been together for two-and-a-half weeks. Of course, there’s work to be done.
“I have to give them a little bit of grace right?,” Nakase said. “With the type of atmosphere we had … I thought we got excited, rushed a little bit.
“We’ll clean it up. We will take a look at everything. There is a lot of room for improvement, but the effort was there and I’m never gonna get upset with that.”
Valkyries point guard Julie Vanloo, scored 14 points off the bench, including a sequence of three 3-pointers in 44 seconds that ignited the crowd as Golden State cut a 15-point deficit to six points. The Belgian said she felt the energy of the crowd in her veins and called her new home gym a place where “magic happens.” When asked about how Nakase’s style is meshing with a new team, Vanloo was equally effusive.
“I think her style is important for a team with a lot of new players,” Vanloo said. “She never gives up on you, even if you have a tough night and she doesn’t kill you if you make a mistake or you miss a shot. You feel like she always has your back. I think we can be very thankful as players to have her.”
Nakase said the atmosphere was everything she hoped it would be. As Chase Center filled to the brim with the largest crowd for a WNBA franchise debut in league history, the moment that Bay Area fans had been waiting for had arrived and they were primed for the party.
WNBA Commissioner Cathy Englebert made the trip from the East Coast. Oakland mayor Barbara Lee and San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie were seated in the building. Bay Area rap legend E-40 performed at halftime. Comedian Ali Wong, a San Francisco native, was introduced, along with U.S. women’s soccer legend Brandi Chastain. Doc Rivers, the coach who hired Nakase as an NBA assistant with the Los Angeles Clippers, surprised Nakase by showing up to support her.
More than 95 media credentials were issued for the game. Bay Area local news crews camped out in the concourse doing fan interviews, while long lines formed in the merchandise shops.
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Even with Warriors coach Steve Kerr and a handful of Warriors players in the building (minus Steph Curry, a late scratch) just four days after their last home playoff game, the Valkyries emphatically took over their summer home.
“It was loud. I mean loud,” Nakase said. “It’s exactly what I wanted. If I could have dreamed up an environment — the roars, the screams, the shouts … that crowd is going support us, regardless.”
Englebert admitted she got emotional when she walked into the building.
“I’m so proud of what [owner] Joe [Lacob] and [team president] Jess [Smith] and their whole team have done,” Englebert said. “Seeing the upper deck filled, we haven’t been able to fill arenas like a Chase Center. It’s amazing.”
It was amazing, and it was also a starting point. Nakase is sure of that as well.
Written by Michelle Smith
Michelle Smith has covered women’s basketball nationally for more than three decades. A 2024 inductee into the U.S. Basketball Writer’s Hall of Fame, Smith has worked for ESPN.com, The Athletic, the San Francisco Chronicle, as well as Pac-12.com and WNBA.com. She is the 2017 recipient of the Jake Wade Media Award from the Collegiate Sports Information Directors Association (CoSIDA) and was named the Mel Greenberg Media Award winner by the WBCA in 2019.
