Natalie Nakase
#117,254 Most Popular
About
Basketball coach, assistant coach, and former player known for being one of the first women of Asian descent to coach in the NBA and for coaching for the Los Angeles Clippers. She made history as the first Asian-American woman to serve as an NBA assistant coach in 2018.
Before Fame
She played basketball for Marina High School. She played college basketball at UCLA as a point guard from 1998 to 2003. She played professionally in the National Women's Basketball League (NWBL) for the San Jose Spiders and the San Diego Siege in 2005. She also played overseas in Germany. Her playing career was cut short because of injuries, which resulted in her transitioning into coaching.
Trivia
She became the first Asian American coach to win a WNBA title in 2022 for her work with WNBA's Aces. She is only 5 feet, 2 inches tall but still was successful as a basketball player.
Family Life
She was born in Anaheim, California, and raised in Huntington Beach, California. Her parents are second-generation Japanese Americans.
Associated With
She and Becky Hammon are both groundbreaking female coaches in the NBA. She works with Tyronn Lue coaching the Los Angeles Clippers.
