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"I'm always going to be a fighter." Natalie Nakase has earned the trust of her players with a hands-on approach that goes well beyond basketball, and now the Golden State Valkyries are playing for a championship in Year 2 ready to face the Atlanta Dream in the WNBA Finals.
Natalie Nakase had just been hired for her first head coaching job when she asked Tiffany Hayes to take a chance and join her in San Francisco to start something
Context from Wikipedia on the organisations, people and places in this story.
Women's National Basketball Association team in San Francisco, California
The Golden State Valkyries are an American professional basketball team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The Valkyries compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Western Conference. The team began play in the 2025 season. While the Valkyries play their home games at Chase Center in San Francisco, their practice facility and front office are located in Oakland.
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American basketball player and coach (born 1980)
Natalie Mitsue Nakase is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach of the Golden State Valkyries of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). After retiring as a player, she was a head coach for both men's and women's professional teams. Nakase was later an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Clippers in the National Basketball Association (NBA). She then won two WNBA championships as an assistant coach for the Las Vegas Aces in 2022 and 2023. In 2025, she was named the WNBA Coach of the Year in her first season with the Valkyries.
More on Wikipedia ↗Championship series of the Women's National Basketball Association
The WNBA Finals is the championship series of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and the conclusion of the league's postseason each fall. The series was named the WNBA Championship until 2002.
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