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Julius Randle is settling in with the Minnesota Timberwolves

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Kyden Randle could have been the hottest kid in New York, especially amongst New York Knicks fans. The son of New York Knicks forward Julius Randle was beloved for his passion and humorousness during his father’s home games. But just two days before Knicks training camp, Randle learned he was not a Knick and broke the news to his son, who had already began school.

“The biggest impact it had was on my family,” Randle told Andscape after the Minnesota Timberwolves’ 117-115 victory over the Sacramento Kings on Oct. 24. “My oldest son went to high school. He will likely be 8 years old in December. He’s been going to high school with all his best friends for two.5 years they usually began school. It was difficult for him. This was really the hardest part…

“I gave him the news, just being honest, telling him I used to be traded to Minnesota. I told him it was best for him, our family and me personally. I attempted doing little things to excite him. He’s a giant fan of (Minnesota Vikings wide receiver) Justin Jefferson. Then he was enthusiastic about Ant (Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards) and being on the team. New house. You just need to seek out a option to trick him a bit.

Randle himself was “a little shocked by the moment” when he was traded from the Knicks to the Timberwolves on Oct. 3 for four-time All-Star forward Karl Anthony-Towns and guard Donte DiVincenzo. It wasn’t like Randle was unaware of this. trade rumors, but it surely’s rare for a trade to occur this near training camp. Although the Timberwolves have made plenty of changes over the past yr, Randle told Andscape that he thinks he’ll fit in well this season.

Randle averaged 22.6 points, 9.9 rebounds and 4.7 assists for the Knicks during the 2019-2024 season. All three of his NBA All-Star appearances got here in New York. The 2021 NBA Most Improved Player led the Knicks to the 2020 playoffs for the first time after an eight-year hiatus. Just days before the deal, Randle also established a basketball court in New York City, named in his honor, at the Earl Monroe New Renaissance Basketball School, after raising greater than $1.3 million for the institution.

“What really unnerved me was that it was so close to training camp,” Randle said of the trade. “We had a training camp in two or three days. My mind was able to go to Charleston (South Carolina) for training camp. It took me an evening or two (to simply accept it). The next morning. I used to be very completely happy because I forgot about all the things else and considered basketball…

“It wasn’t that I assumed I could not be traded. I form of thought (trade talks) would occur, but I feel it’s going to be more during the season or closer to the trade deadline since the summer has already passed. I used to be a bit shocked by the timing. I used to be definitely completely happy with where I used to be going. “

Minnesota Timberwolves coach Chris Finch (left) talks with forward Julius Randle (right) during the first game at the Target Center on Oct. 26 in Minneapolis.

David Berding/Getty Images

When the dust settled, Randle was enthusiastic about what was to return in Minnesota for several reasons.

Randle worked with Edwards, certainly one of the NBA’s most enjoyable young superstars, and the Timberwolves advanced to the 2024 Western Conference Finals. To make things easier, Randle reunited with Timberwolves coach Chris Finch, who was an assistant coach with the New Orleans Pelicans when Randle played there during the 2018-19 season.

“It’s crazy because he makes the game so easy,” Randle, 29, said. “His understanding of space, on-ball and off-the-ball motion, sets and things like that, what an excellent and bad shot is. He really simplifies the game. I felt it once I was in New Orleans and I feel it here now. I do not have to force anything…

“Who apart from Finch would I wish to play for? He knows my game so well. When I began eager about this site, I got really excited.

Finch said working with Randle has “helped him a lot” as a coach. Finch added that he had at all times been a “huge fan of Julius” and that Edwards and the remainder of the players would have loved Randle’s durability, passing ability and impact on games.

“I loved Julius when we had him in New Orleans,” Finch told Andscape. “I felt like he was completely happy to return to (Minnesota). I just told him when he was traded, “You’ll like it.” You will love our boys. You will love this technique. We’re going to get the ball in your hands quickly. You can have the opportunity to play your game.

“I even have a reasonably good feeling about it. He told me he liked the freedom and fluidity we showed during the game. He liked it in New Orleans. I just told him repeatedly that we were completely happy to have him.

Randle averaged 24 points and 9.2 rebounds in 46 games during New York’s injury-plagued 2023-24 NBA season. He has the shooting, rebounding and playmaking skills to match Towns’, but in Randle’s debut with the Timberwolves, he scored only 16 points and made only 10 field goal attempts in a 110-103 season-opening loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on October 22.

“He does really well on and off the court. He is very happy to be here. The guys really liked him.”

— Minnesota Timberwolves coach Chris Finch

During the Oct. 24 shooting in Sacramento, Finch was very blunt with Randle, telling him he needed to be aggressive on offense and stop attempting to fit in.

“He neglects too much,” Finch said before the Kings game. “In the previous few days we told him, ‘You should be more aggressive. You should try harder to do your job. We like the incontrovertible fact that you actually attempt to fit in and find yourself just causing plenty of damage to your teammates. But I also imagine that he’ll make the right play and he must proceed to impose himself in the game, be a bit more aggressive.

“This is the best option to do it. Get on the market, be yourself. We will discover about it during the trip. But when you’re talented enough to delay the decision, we now have to do what you do best… So he seems to get this and that message.

Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards (left) and forward Julius Randle (right) react after making a basket during a game Oct. 26 in Minneapolis.

Jordan Johnson/NBAE via Getty Images

Randle proved he understood by dominating against Sacramento: 33 points on 13-of-17 shooting and 5-of-6 three-pointers, along with adding five assists and 4 rebounds in 35 minutes. Tonight, Randle and Edwards also showed they’re a formidable duo.

“Finchy told him (Thursday) morning: ‘Don’t fit in with us. We adapt to you. You’re a star, Ju. Be who you are. And (against Sacramento) that (expletive) was amazing. This is what we need,” Edwards told Andscape.

Randle and Edwards each scored 24 points in the Timberwolves’ 112-101 victory over the Toronto Raptors on Sunday. Edwards told Andscape he is very enthusiastic about what Randle adds to Minnesota.

“It means we can give him the ball, get out of his way and tell him to bring us the bucket. And that’s what we need. Sometimes we go a little overboard with it. Swing. Swing. We are stagnant across the board. We need someone other than me who can go get the bucket. And he showed us that,” Edwards said against Sacramento.

“He does really well on and off the court. He is very happy to be here. The guys really liked him,” Finch said.

Beginning his NBA profession with the Los Angeles Lakers, Randle played with Kobe Bryant, certainly one of the NBA’s biggest players and the Lakers’ all-time leading scorer. Edwards is an Olympic gold medalist and two-time NBA All-Star known for his scoring, high-flying dunks and electric moves.

Is Edwards as intimidating offensively, skillfully and athletically as Bryant?

“I didn’t play with Bean in his prime,” Randle said. “But the mentality is very similar. Without hesitation. Ant gets right to it. He is special. Physically he is talented. In terms of skills, he is talented. Dude is different. There aren’t many players like him.

“Now I see his leadership, charisma and energy. He makes everyone believe. It’s unique.”

After the Timberwolves’ first road trip, Randle joined his wife and two young sons at their recent home outside Minneapolis on Friday. The considered his boys graduating from highschool in New York by early 2025 was out of the query for Randle because “they have to be with me.” He is currently in the third yr of a four-year, $117 million contract with a player option through the 2025-26 season and is open to a contract extension. The Dallas native added that he’s “in a great place” mentally.

Although Randle said he is preparing for the cold winters, he is optimistic about life with the Timberwolves. He believes the changes will likely be good for Minnesota.

“I’m extremely excited from top to bottom,” Randle said. “From life, to organization, to coaching, to the way things are done here. It’s really a breath of fresh air for me… We can be really good. We have to take it one day at a time. But as a group we can be special. If we compete, we can be really good. As good as we want.”

Marc J. Spears is Andscape’s senior NBA author. He used to give you the chance to dunk on you, but he hasn’t been capable of do it for years and his knees still hurt.

This article was originally published on : andscape.com
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The Golden State Valkyries CEO is developing a game plan for the expansion draft

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For Ohemaa Nyaninit gave the look of the perfect ending and best case scenario.

As the New York Liberty celebrated its first WNBA championship in franchise history on Oct. 20 in Brooklyn, New York, across the country, a former Liberty executive stood screaming at the television and crying tears of joy in her recent Bay Area apartment.

Nyanin spent five years with the Liberty organization, first as director of basketball operations after which, starting in 2022, as assistant general manager.

In May, Nyanin was named general manager of the Golden State Valkyries, the WNBA’s first expansion team since 2008.

Since being hired seven months ago, Nyanin has been charged with revitalizing the basketball team of the newly formed Golden State organization. Her next big step in that process will come Friday when she selects the first group of Valkyrie players in the WNBA expansion draft.

A couple of weeks before New York won the title, Nyanin was in Brooklyn for the second game of the finals after her former colleagues in the Liberty office begged her to return to the Barclays Center.

“I just wanted to see the evolution of what we built in 2019 in Westchester County Center to where we are today,” Nyanin said.

Nyanin thought she would complete this evolution in 2023, when the Liberty would compete for the WNBA championship against the Las Vegas Aces. Instead, she and her family watched as the Aces celebrated after defeating Liberty on their home court.

“I had to come back to sort of cleanse the experience,” Nyanin said.

Seeing the team she played a major role in constructing achieve its ultimate goal marked a satisfying end to a momentous chapter for Nyanin. Now Nyanin can officially retire its Liberty Green Meerschaum.

“I’m rigorous Purple Valkyrie We are moving forward,” she said.

Nyanin has a vision for the growth and development of the Valkyries organization. Before a job candidate joins a franchise in any capability, Nyanin desires to know one thing: Do they wish to construct?

The answer to this query was not all the time what Nyanin expected.

“I think at first I didn’t give much credence to the fact that not everyone wants to build,” Nyanin said.

Nyanin said her vision didn’t come together as quickly as she expected. While this job has required her to have an additional dose of patience in the meantime, she’s reminded of where she got here from in New York in 2019 and what she ultimately completed in 2024. It’s all a process.

“I knew it would be complicated.” Nyanin said. “Knowing that it’s complex and being in that complexity are two different things in my opinion.”

While navigating the starting of her tenure has had its challenges, Nyanin says she’s near the goals she set for herself when she began the job.

“I’ll let all the little victories kind of motivate me to keep going and get to all the things that we need to get to,” Nyanin said.

Two of those victories earned her her first office job. She was hired in July Vanja Černivec to grow to be vp of basketball operations at Golden State. In October, she hired a standout Las Vegas Aces assistant Natalie Nakase as the first trainer of Valkyries.


With the expansion project, Nyanin and her team are trekking into uncharted territory. While the Atlanta Dream has previously been involved in an expansion project, this is true 16 years ago. It is unlikely that any current front office staff may have experience with this process.

“I would say I read the rules every day to make sure I haven’t missed anything,” Nyanin said. “It was a journey. I don’t need to make use of pejoratives or anything like that, which is super fluffy and exciting. It was just a journey. I believe people can appreciate how hard this journey has been, nevertheless it’s something our league may have to undergo.

While the front office hasn’t participated in an expansion project in recent history, it won’t be long before many individuals start making the most of it in the coming seasons, whether or not it involves the newly announced Toronto AND Portland franchises scheduled to start in 2026, or expansion franchises the league is expected to announce in the future.

“It’s always interesting to be the first in a really long time because I think this group of general managers and coaches will probably be there as we go through the next stages of expansion,” Nyanin said.

When it involves the personnel and players who could also be the first Valkyries to play, Nyanin and Nakase share an emphasis on constructing a team with a defensive identity.

“If you look at the teams that have had success over the last three seasons, or more specifically, if not four, they have been top five in defensive rating,” Nyanin said.

Liberty was ranked last season third in the defensive rating.

“I think this needs to be emphasized because I think people, average people, really look at the offense,” she said. “It’s a skill of select athletes and, oh my God, if you have that athlete, you’re definitely going to win basketball games because they know how to do X, right? I don’t think it really talks about how defense can lead to offense, right? Are we always in transition offense because we get all these steals or blocks or deflections?”

For much of the preparation for the expansion project, Nyanin and Nakase needed to work in a cloud of hypotheses. By November 18, Nyanin had not received the list of designated players from which the Valkyries were to decide on. In late September, the WNBA announced the deadline for teams to submit roster lists to the league “about 10 days” before the expansion project.

“If they don’t protect this player, should we go for him? And why or why not?” Nyanin talked about her conversations with Nakase. “We each agreed that we were form of geniuses from our previous locations. So, you understand, form of what I say about New York and whatever she says about Vegas, high-quality.


As general manager, Nyanin believes that one among her standout strengths is her ability to tap into the human aspect of WNBA players. That’s a big a part of what she delivered to Liberty’s office, and it’s something she feels is missing in the CEO dynamic today.

“At the end of the day, these athletes are people first,” Nyanin said. “If you’ll be able to’t understand what motivates an athlete to open the door day-after-day, go to practice, play that sport, wish to win or simply be completely satisfied to be there, it’s good to understand the athlete’s motivations.

“I think this is just an area where we collectively need to do better to provide a safe environment for these athletes to develop.”

For Nyanin, it’s about greater than just what a player can do for the franchise on the pitch. It’s about whether the player wants to construct and share a vision for the franchise: is this a market he thinks he will be in, not only for the season, but for the future?

While Nyanin expects a certain level of investment from anyone who joins the Valkyries, it is not a one-way street. When deciding whether to simply accept the Golden State job, Nyanin stated that she would only feel comfortable leaving Liberty if she knew in her heart that the team had what it took to win.

“The most important thing for me was to make sure the athletes felt I wasn’t abandoning them,” Nyanin said. “that my development was not to come at the expense of their dreams.”

Nyanin believes that with Černivec and Nakase’s experience in producing championship-level winning teams, they’re equipped to construct a competitive squad.

“I believe this is exactly what I wanted to construct. Yes, I make the decisions. I even have very capable decision-makers who all share one common goal. And that is how we will form of attack whatever happens next.”

Nyanin is one among the few two Black WNBA general managers. WITH Exit Natalie Williams was named general manager of the Aces on October 24, and is also the only Black woman to function general manager in the 13-team league. (Three teams currently have vacant CEO positions.)

“I decided not to think about it,” Nyanin said when asked about the importance of getting this job and being a representative of Black CEOs. “It’s so intimidating to think that I’m the only black female GM right now.”

Nyanin added that her storyline and standpoint differ significantly from the experiences of Black Americans. Nyanin was born in Silver Spring, Maryland, but grew up as a third culture child who had lived in five countries.

While her perspective could also be different, she still understands the importance of her presence in the league and hopes that her influence can create opportunities for other Black women.

“If you look at the big picture, we’re still working on it as a league,” Nyanin said. “I’m excited to hopefully make a positive impact in this field, so I hope my success continues to open doors for others.”

Linear notes

WNBA expansion project
When: 6:30 p.m. on Friday
To watch: ESPN

Sean Hurd is a author for Andscape, primarily covering women’s basketball. The pinnacle of his athletic development got here at the age of 10, when he was voted camper of the week at Josh Childress’ basketball camp.

This article was originally published on : andscape.com
Continue Reading

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The Golden State Valkyries CEO is developing a game plan for the expansion draft

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on

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For Ohemaa Nyaninit gave the impression of the perfect ending and best case scenario.

As the New York Liberty celebrated its first WNBA championship in franchise history on Oct. 20 in Brooklyn, New York, across the country, a former Liberty executive stood screaming at the television and crying tears of joy in her recent Bay Area apartment.

Nyanin spent five years with the Liberty organization, first as director of basketball operations after which, starting in 2022, as assistant general manager.

In May, Nyanin was named general manager of the Golden State Valkyries, the WNBA’s first expansion team since 2008.

Since being hired seven months ago, Nyanin has been charged with revitalizing the basketball team of the newly formed Golden State organization. Her next big step in that process will come Friday when she selects the first group of Valkyrie players in the WNBA expansion draft.

A couple of weeks before New York won the title, Nyanin was in Brooklyn for the second game of the finals after her former colleagues in the Liberty office begged her to return to the Barclays Center.

“I just wanted to see the evolution of what we built in 2019 in Westchester County Center to where we are today,” Nyanin said.

Nyanin thought she would complete this evolution in 2023, when the Liberty would compete for the WNBA championship against the Las Vegas Aces. Instead, she and her family watched as the Aces celebrated after defeating Liberty on their home court.

“I had to come back to sort of cleanse the experience,” Nyanin said.

Seeing the team she had played a major role in constructing achieve its ultimate goal marked a satisfying end to a momentous chapter for Nyanin. Now Nyanin can officially retire its Liberty green meerschaum.

“I’m rigorous Purple Valkyrie We are moving forward,” she said.

Nyanin has a vision for the growth and development of the Valkyries organization. Before a job candidate joins a franchise in any capability, Nyanin desires to know one thing: Do they need to construct?

The answer to this query was not at all times what Nyanin expected.

“I think at first I didn’t give much credence to the fact that not everyone wants to build,” Nyanin said.

Nyanin said her vision didn’t come together as quickly as she expected. While this job has required her to have an additional dose of patience in the meantime, she’s reminded of where she got here from in New York in 2019 and what she ultimately achieved in 2024. It’s all a process.

“I knew it would be complicated.” Nyanin said. “Knowing that it’s complex and being in that complexity are two different things in my opinion.”

While navigating the starting of her tenure has had its challenges, Nyanin says she’s near the goals she set for herself when she began the job.

“I’ll let all the little victories kind of motivate me to keep going and get to all the things that we need to get to,” Nyanin said.

Two of those victories earned her her first office job. She was hired in July Vanja Černivec to grow to be vp of basketball operations at Golden State. In October, she hired a standout Las Vegas Aces assistant Natalie Nakase as the first trainer of Valkyries.


With the expansion project, Nyanin and her team are trekking into uncharted territory. While the Atlanta Dream has previously been involved in an expansion project, this is true 16 years ago. It is unlikely that any current front office staff can have experience with this process.

“I would say I read the rules every day to make sure I haven’t missed anything,” Nyanin said. “It was a journey. I don’t need to make use of pejoratives or anything like that, which is super fluffy and exciting. It was just a journey. I feel people can appreciate how hard this journey has been, but it surely’s something our league can have to undergo.

While the front office hasn’t participated in an expansion project in recent history, it won’t be long before many individuals start making the most of it in the coming seasons, whether or not it involves the newly announced Toronto AND Portland franchises scheduled to start in 2026, or expansion franchises the league is expected to announce in the future.

“It’s always interesting to be the first in a really long time because I think this group of general managers and coaches will probably be there as we go through the next stages of expansion,” Nyanin said.

When it involves the personnel and players who could also be the first Valkyries to play, Nyanin and Nakase share an emphasis on constructing a team with a defensive identity.

“If you look at the teams that have had success over the last three seasons, or more specifically, if not four, they have been top five in defensive rating,” Nyanin said.

Liberty was ranked last season third in the defensive rating.

“I think this needs to be emphasized because I think people, average people, really look at the offense,” she said. “It’s a skill of select athletes and, oh my God, if you have that athlete, you’re definitely going to win basketball games because they know how to do X, right? I don’t think it really talks about how defense can lead to offense, right? Are we always in transition offense because we get all these steals or blocks or deflections?”

For much of the preparation for the expansion project, Nyanin and Nakase needed to work in a cloud of hypotheses. By November 18, Nyanin had not received the list of designated players from which the Valkyries were to decide on. In late September, the WNBA announced the deadline for teams to submit roster lists to the league “about 10 days” before the expansion project.

“If they don’t protect this player, should we go for him? And why or why not?” Nyanin talked about her conversations with Nakase. “We each agreed that we were type of geniuses from our previous locations. So, you recognize, type of what I say about New York and whatever she says about Vegas, tremendous.


As general manager, Nyanin believes that one in every of her standout strengths is her ability to tap into the human aspect of WNBA players. That’s a big a part of what she delivered to Liberty’s office, and it’s something she feels is missing in the CEO dynamic today.

“At the end of the day, these athletes are people first,” Nyanin said. “If you possibly can’t understand what motivates an athlete to open the door each day, go to practice, play that sport, need to win or simply be blissful to be there, you must understand the athlete’s motivations.

“I think this is just an area where we collectively need to do better to ensure that these athletes have a safe environment to develop.”

For Nyanin, it’s about greater than just what a player can do for the franchise on the pitch. It’s about whether the player wants to construct and share a vision for the franchise: is this a market he thinks he could be in, not only for the season, but for the future?

While Nyanin expects a certain level of investment from anyone who joins the Valkyries, it is not a one-way street. When deciding whether to just accept the Golden State job, Nyanin stated that she would only feel comfortable leaving Liberty if she knew in her heart that the team had what it took to win.

“The most important thing for me was to make sure the athletes felt I wasn’t abandoning them,” Nyanin said. “that my development was not to come at the expense of their dreams.”

Nyanin believes that with Černivec and Nakase’s experience in producing championship-level winning teams, they’re equipped to construct a competitive squad.

“I feel this is exactly what I wanted to construct. Yes, I make the decisions. I even have very capable decision-makers who all share one common goal. And that is how we will type of attack whatever happens next.”

Nyanin is one in every of the few two Black WNBA general managers. WITH Exit Natalie Williams was named general manager of the Aces on October 24, and is also the only Black woman to function general manager in the 13-team league. (Three teams currently have vacant CEO positions.)

“I decided not to think about it,” Nyanin said when asked about the importance of getting this job and being a representative of Black CEOs. “It’s so intimidating to think that I’m the only black female GM right now.”

Nyanin added that her storyline and standpoint differ significantly from the experiences of Black Americans. Nyanin was born in Silver Spring, Maryland, but grew up as a third culture child who had lived in five countries.

While her perspective could also be different, she still understands the importance of her presence in the league and hopes that her influence can create opportunities for other Black women.

“If you look at the big picture, we’re still working on it as a league,” Nyanin said. “I’m excited to hopefully make a positive impact in this field, so I hope my success continues to open doors for others.”

Linear notes

WNBA expansion project
When: 6:30 p.m. on Friday
To watch: ESPN

Sean Hurd is a author for Andscape, primarily covering women’s basketball. The pinnacle of his athletic development got here at the age of 10, when he was voted camper of the week at Josh Childress’ basketball camp.

This article was originally published on : andscape.com
Continue Reading

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Natalie Nakase’s next challenge? Training the Golden State Valkyries to success in Year 1

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Natalie Nakase has never shied away from a challenge.

For the recent coach of the Golden State Valkyries, the challenge is just a provocation, a possibility to prove herself, which makes her very blissful. You could even say that the challenge hates the sight of Nakase.

When Nakase turned down a full scholarship to play basketball at the University of California, Irvine and as a substitute joined the women’s basketball team at the University of California, Los Angeles, her former coach called her tell her she’s crazy. Nakase would grow to be a three-year starter and team captain.

When was she asked to play skilled basketball? She would do it in two different countries and grow to be the first Asian-American player in the National Women’s Basketball League.

When Nakase’s playing profession was cut short due to injury, she became a coach in Germany. Within two years, she became the first female coach in Japan’s top skilled men’s league. She talked about wanting to train in the NBA because her aspirations often lacked external support.

She turned an internship with the LA Clippers right into a position as an assistant coach for player development with the franchise.

“I think ever since I was young, I loved challenges,” Nakase said. “I like impossible things.”

Her latest challenge? Finding an Affordable Home in San Francisco. But evidently even the San Francisco real estate market cannot compare.

“I think I found it,” she said.

Nakase, who most recently won two championships as an assistant coach with the Las Vegas Aces, was hired in October as the head coach of the Golden State Valkyries, the WNBA’s first expansion team since 2008. The Valkyries will select their first players through the WNBA expansion draft on Friday, and Nakase will fill out his coaching staff in the coming weeks.

The task facing Nakase – putting a competitive team on the field and achieving success as a young franchise – is a difficult one. When Chicago Sky was unveiled in 2006, the team went 5-29. The “Atlanta Dream” is gone 4-30 during the opening season in 2008.

But as Nakase’s journey has shown, betting against her was all the time a mistake.

“People say that expansion teams normally don’t do thoroughly in the first yr. It’s an enormous challenge for me to be told this again,” Nakase said.

When Nakase was first hired, Golden State general manager Ohemaa Nyanin didn’t understand how much Nakase would want to be involved from day one, especially in planning the upcoming expansion draft.

“On the day of the press conference, he comes into the office in Oakland and says, ‘OK, so tell me what you’ve done,’” Nyanin said. “She is just fully committed, 100% focused on every element of the process.”

Preparation has all the time been a part of Nakase’s process. When she was a video coordinator intern for the Los Angeles Clippers, she used the time to start developing her script – after timeouts, off-court moves and favorite sets.

“I think preparation obviously trumps everything when it comes to opportunity. I was getting ready,” Nakase said.

Last week, the Valkyries’ front office received a listing from the remaining 12 WNBA teams containing a listing of players who could potentially be chosen in Friday’s expansion draft.

There are some non-negotiables Nakase shall be in search of from the players on his team. They will need to have an “absurd work ethic” and an “ultra-competitive mindset” that absolutely hates the feeling of failure, she said.

“We want players to always strive to want more,” Nakase said. “I think it will probably go a little deeper as we get into the expansion draft, like which players really want to get better and which ones they never want to figure out.”

They will need to be unselfish, and Nakase sees that trait as crucial to the Aces winning their second league title.

“We were a selfless team in my opinion,” Nakase said. “You always want to help your teammate. This is crucial. We will be in touch all the time.”

The qualities Nakase looks for in her players are consistent together with her individual goals. Just as passionately as her father, Gary Nakase, encouraged Nakase to earn straight A’s in school, he also encouraged her to all the time be competitive on the field and be the best at what she did. As a setter who idolized Magic Johnson, she adopted a selfless mentality and all the time wanted to make the game easier for others. At every stage of her basketball profession, she has shied away from being the hardest employee in the constructing.

“My journey as a coach is kind of the foundation of my career,” she said.

When Nakase began coaching, she, like many others, was driven by the desire to win. On the Aces, as an assistant to coach Becky Hammon, Nakase got to experience that. Although Nakase still has the urge to hang banners, her motivation and her “why” are focused on making her father proud. Her impulse to attack the unimaginable and pursue goals without limits was instilled early on by her dad, who was Nakase’s best friend and mentor.

“That right now has made my ‘why’ even better, even more different, and once again, now as a head coach, win as many championships as possible,” she said.

When Nakase was 10, she remembers walking up to her father with tears in her eyes. Nakase had just returned from a basketball game where she didn’t play well and was disenchanted by the words of an opposing player. Without the context of what was frustrating his daughter, Gary Nakase looked down and used the moment to share a very important lesson.

“Natalie, never let yourself be… what people think or think about you,” said Gary Nakase, who died in 2021. “You tried your best. You all the time have to consider in yourself – that is more essential.”

It’s a message that stuck with Nakase, now 44.

“From a young age, I used to be able to block out lots of the distractions and noise that lots of people discuss and just keep going and give attention to that – whether it was my game or now that I’m coaching – I just focused. on what I can control,” she said.

When the Aces won the first championship in franchise history in 2022Nakase said she has options to leave the Aces bench and move to one other coaching position. Nakase, nevertheless, selected to stay, selecting to remain “loyal” to Hammon due to the opportunity Hammon gave her.

“I told Becky, ‘Listen, no, I’m your assistant,’” Nakase said. “She took me in – she didn’t really know who I used to be as an individual. After the first yr of probably the best coaching experience I’ve ever had in my life, thanks to her and the players we had and the way quickly we were getting on, I wanted to stay.

After the Aces won their second straight title in 2023– Nakase said, her desire to leave the Aesir diminishing much more. She focused on rewriting the record books in Las Vegas.

“I wanted to win five (championships),” Nakase said. (*1*)

Despite Nakase’s intention to stick with the franchise, Hammon encouraged her to attend one in all the interviews offered to her – but Nakase wasn’t sure.

“She knew I was ready and I think her support was what pushed me,” Nakase said.

Nakase eventually spoke to Nyanin. In Valkyries, Nakase believed she had found her perfect match.

During one in all their last conversations before Nakase left Vegas, which she said was full of tears and countless hugs, Hammon left Nakase with a parting message:

“You’re ready, now go and kill it.”

Linear notes

WNBA expansion project
When: 6:30 p.m. on Friday
To watch: ESPN

Sean Hurd is a author for Andscape, primarily covering women’s basketball. The pinnacle of his athletic development got here at the age of 10, when he was voted camper of the week at Josh Childress’ basketball camp.

This article was originally published on : andscape.com
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