The Golden State Warriors are preparing for their 12th season under head coach Steve Kerr, who has already guided the franchise to four championships.
With Stephen Curry in the latter stages of his career, the Warriors are looking to maximize the remainder of the superstar's years and bring another championship to The Bay. While the team will eventually have to plan for life after Curry, Kerr is also going to retire someday, which would obviously leave the Warriors in need of a new leader on the sideline.
The former Coach of the Year has shown no signs of stepping down anytime soon, but he won't coach forever. When the time does come, owner Joe Lacob may already have a new coach in mind, and she's already building a winning culture in Golden State.
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Valkyries’ Natalie Nakase named obvious Steve Kerr replacement
The Golden State Valkyries, Lacob's new WNBA expansion team, made a splash in their inaugural season by finishing with a 23-21 record and earning a postseason berth. The Valkyries largely built their roster through the 2024 WNBA Expansion Draft, selecting a group of unprotected players from across the league.
Despite being seen as a team of overlooked players, they quickly developed into a playoff-caliber squad under head coach Natalie Nakase. Nakase's immediate impact hasn't gone unnoticed, and Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle believes she could eventually become the Warriors’ next head coach.
“Nakase may have already done enough with the Valkyries to convince Lacob,” he wrote. “Having been an assistant with both the NBA's Clippers and the WNBA’s Aces, she took a team of castoffs, gave them a game plan and an attitude, and made it work.”
Nakase was once a walk-on guard at UCLA and spent a decade working in the NBA. She joined the Las Vegas Aces as an assistant coach in 2022 and was part of two championship teams before joining the Valkyries.
While Aces coach Becky Hammon and University of South Carolina coach Dawn Staley have both interviewed for head coaching positions in the NBA in the past, the league has yet to see a female head coach — Nakase could be the one to break that barrier.
Kerr could continue coaching for years to come, but if retirement becomes an option in the near future, Nakase is certainly a viable candidate to be his successor.
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