WNBA Coach Natalie Nakase Reflects on the Worst Advice She’s Received
On this week’s episode of the Marie Claire podcast “Nice Talk,” Nakase, who now coaches the Golden State Valkyries, reveals the worst feedback she ever received—and how it only propelled her forward.
Nakase explains she was taken aback by the advice she received while interviewing for a coaching position and didn’t get the role. “I was getting a little bit of a reflection of why I didn’t get the job,” she recalls. “They said, ‘You should get married and have a family, and then you’ll know what it’s like to take care of people, and you’ll be a better coach.'”However, the WNBA coach says she was able to turn the experience into a positive. “It wasn’t the right fit,” she says on “Nice Talk.” “I actually walked away saying, ‘Thank you.’ In my mind, I probably wouldn’t have excelled with that organization. I probably would have shrunk and not [have been] able to be myself.'”
In general, Nakase says, she has learned not to take rejection as feeling as though “you’re not good enough,” but that “it’s just not the right fit.” “When you start thinking like that, then you really start to continue to improve and get excited and really want to go after jobs,” the former assistant coach for the Los Angeles Clippers says.
Now that Nakase has accomplished many of her goals, she wants to use her platform to help others reach theirs.
Though she says she never set out to reach the milestones that she has—from becoming the first woman to coach Japan’s top professional basketball team to being the first Asian American coach to win a WNBA title—it’s happened because of her love for the game. “I can’t breathe without basketball, so it just happens,” Nakase says. “But now, as it’s coming to fruition and people are talking about it, I’m taking it more like it’s an honor…and it’s a responsibility. Now that people are listening, people are watching, I want to make sure that whatever I do, I really want to be legendary.”
The former player explains that while she aspires to win multiple championships, she also wants to open doors. “If you want to be a coach or an assistant coach in professional sports, let me know. You know, how can I help? I want to continue this,” says Nakase. “Just because I’m first doesn’t mean anything. I want to open up the doors and help people as best as I can because I love this job. I love basketball.”
On this week’s “Nice Talk,” Nakase also opens up about the challenges she faced in not being heavily recruited to play college basketball, despite being named high school player of the year, the gender pay gap in sports, her coaching philosophy, and more. The episode is available now wherever you listen to podcasts.
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