As a resident of Orange County, I live in L.A. Sparks country, as far as WNBA fandom goes. But as soon as the expansion Golden State Valkyries named Natalie Nakase, a friend of this blog, as their first head coach, I was a committed GSV fan!

I’ve followed Natalie’s career for a long time, and she was gracious in spending time chatting with me for a Feminist Asian Dad interview back in 2019, when she was an assistant coach for the NBA L.A. Clippers. She was the first woman of color to serve in that capacity in the NBA, and she’s the first Asian American to be a head coach in the WNBA.

Herstory made! Natalie is introduced as the Valkyries’ first-ever head coach. (Golden State Valkyries photo)

But on top of that, the Valkyries last week drafted UConn’s Kaitlyn Chen, marking another WNBA first, since she’s the first Taiwanese American drafted in the WNBA. That really resonates with me as a Taiwanese American; my dad’s side of the family moved from the Chinese mainland to Taiwan more than 200 years ago. I didn’t need another reason to root for the Valkyries, but I’ve got another big one!

(Here’s the fantastic moment at the draft when Kaitlyn was announced as the Valkyries’ pick. She and the rest of the UConn women’s team were there to support their star teammate Paige Bueckers, drafted first overall; Kaitlyn’s name was read later in the evening.)

I can’t help but think of how Natalie and Kaitlyn have some key things in common, and I don’t just mean that they’re Asian American women who’ve played basketball at the highest levels of competition. (Natalie was a standout at Marina High School in O.C., leading her team to two CIF titles and being named the Orange County Player of the Year by both the O.C. Register and L.A. Times in 1998. She turned down a scholarship offer from UC Irvine, walked on at UCLA, and was a starter her last three years after recovering from a torn ACL. After college, Natalie played briefly professionally before injuring her knee for a second time. And by the way, Natalie did all this while standing at 5 feet, 2 inches.) 

Natalie speaks last year at her jersey number retirement ceremony at Marina High School. (OC Register photo)

Natalie and Kaitlyn, at least to my layman’s eye, have some striking similarities on the court. As a high school player, Natalie put up a lot of points. But with other talented scorers around her at UCLA, she was asked to be the leader on the floor. She played smart, got other players involved, defended like her life depended on it, and made all the hustle plays, fearlessly going after every loose ball in her vicinity and sacrificing her body to get any edge possible for her team. 

Kaitlyn, who hails from San Marino here in the Los Angeles area and played her high school ball at Flintridge Prep in La Cañada, was a big offensive force for her teams at Princeton, where she led the Tigers to Ivy League championships and NCAA tournament appearances. Since Ivy League schools don’t give grad students athletic eligibility, she transferred to the storied University of Connecticut hoops program after her senior season. Like Natalie in her college days, she was asked not as much to score as to lead, to set the tempo and rhythm for the offense, to lock down on defense, and to use her high basketball IQ to help the team play smart basketball, especially in crunch time. She started every one of UConn’s 40 games this year, demonstrating how much trust UConn’s legendary coach Geno Auriemma had in her, and she was a major reason the team won another national title.

Kaitlyn participates in the time-honored basketball tradition of championship teams cutting down the nets. (The Next photo)

I don’t know if Natalie and the rest of the Valkyries brain trust were intentionally looking for someone who could be an extension of Natalie on the floor, but Kaitlyn looks to be that kind of player. I can’t wait to see the team in action! And regardless of which WNBA team is most popular where you live, I hope you’ll join me in cheering on Natalie and Kaitlyn, two trailblazing daughters of Asian America!

Go Valkyries!

I loved interviewing Natalie for this blog several years back. You can read that convo here: https://feministasiandad.com/2019/06/12/natalie-nakase-clippers-coach/