Natalie Nakase's Valkyries one win from WNBA title after Game 5 victory
By Priya NairLeadership & Growth Editor, Peepals Shakti
Representative image: landersb / Pixabay
Coach Natalie Nakase's Golden State Valkyries beat Atlanta 64-55 on October 26, 2026, to lead the WNBA Finals 3-2, in only the expansion team's second season.
What Happened
The Golden State Valkyries, coached by Natalie Nakase, beat the Atlanta Dream 64-55 in Game 5 of the WNBA Finals on Monday, October 26, 2026, to take a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series. One more win would give the Valkyries the championship in only their second season as a team. Golden State held Atlanta to 29.2% shooting and forced 17 turnovers. Game 6 is in Atlanta on Thursday, October 29.
Key Facts
- Result: Valkyries 64, Dream 55, Game 5, October 26, 2026; Golden State leads 3-2.
- Defence: Atlanta shot 29.2% and committed 17 turnovers; the 25-22 half-time score was the lowest combined first half in WNBA Finals history, according to The Associated Press.
- Top performer: Kiah Stokes, 13 points, eight rebounds and three blocks.
- Game 6: Golden State at Atlanta, October 29, 12.30 pm US Eastern time.
- Coach: Natalie Nakase, the Valkyries' first head coach, named WNBA Coach of the Year in her first season.
- Earlier tactic: in Game 4, Nakase moved veteran guard Tiffany Hayes into the starting five; the Valkyries won 67-62 to level the series.
Why It Matters
The Valkyries' run is unusual in itself. The Valkyries are an expansion team, a newly created franchise, and they reached the Finals in only their second year, after sweeping the Las Vegas Aces in the semi-finals.
Much of the credit is going to Nakase, and her path is the reason her story resonates beyond basketball. She was not a star player. Her playing career ended with a knee injury, and she moved into coaching wherever she could find a place. She coached in Germany, then went to Japan as a volunteer assistant with the Tokyo Apache. When the head coach of the Saitama Broncos stepped down in the middle of the 2011-12 season, she took charge, becoming the first woman to coach a team in Japan's bj league, according to profiles of her career.
She then started at the bottom of the NBA, as a video intern with the Los Angeles Clippers in 2012. In 2014 she became the first woman to sit on an NBA Summer League bench as an assistant coach, and in 2018 she became an assistant coach with the Clippers. In 2022, Becky Hammon brought Nakase to the Las Vegas Aces, where she won two WNBA titles as an assistant. The Valkyries then made her their first head coach.
That route, from unpaid and junior roles to the top job, reflects a pattern familiar to many women in male-dominated fields: taking the openings that exist, building a record of results, and relying on mentors who open doors. Her tactical moves in this series, such as the lineup change before Game 4, drew comparisons with a famous Finals switch by Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr in 2015.
| Stage | Natalie Nakase's career |
|---|---|
| Japan, 2011-12 | Took over Saitama Broncos; first woman to coach a bj league team |
| 2012 | Video intern, Los Angeles Clippers |
| 2014 | First woman on an NBA Summer League bench as assistant coach |
| 2022-2024 | Assistant, Las Vegas Aces; two WNBA titles |
| 2025 onwards | First head coach, Golden State Valkyries; Coach of the Year |
Impact
Short-term: The Valkyries can win the title in Game 6 on October 29; if Atlanta wins, the series goes to a deciding Game 7.
Long-term: A championship would make Nakase one of the most prominent women coaches in professional basketball and add to the case for hiring women as head coaches.
Who is affected: Valkyries and Dream players and fans, young women considering coaching careers, and leagues and clubs weighing who to hire as coaches.
Key Takeaway
Natalie Nakase, who rose from a video intern's job to head coach, has the two-year-old Golden State Valkyries one win from the WNBA title after a 64-55 Game 5 win.
Questions and Answers
Who is Natalie Nakase?
She is the first head coach of the Golden State Valkyries in the WNBA. She was named WNBA Coach of the Year in her first season and earlier won two titles as an assistant with the Las Vegas Aces.
What is the score in the 2026 WNBA Finals?
After a 64-55 win in Game 5 on October 26, 2026, the Golden State Valkyries lead the Atlanta Dream 3-2 in the best-of-seven series.
When is WNBA Finals Game 6?
Game 6 is in Atlanta on Thursday, October 29, 2026, at 12.30 pm US Eastern time, which is 10 pm India time.
What firsts has Natalie Nakase achieved?
According to profiles of her career, she was the first woman to coach a team in Japan's bj league and the first woman to sit on an NBA Summer League bench as an assistant coach, in 2014.
Disclaimer: Prepared by the Peepals newsroom from publicly available sources with AI assistance. Information is accurate to the best of our knowledge at the time of publication and may change. Images may be representative. Not professional advice. Report an error via our contact page.
By Priya Nair, Leadership & Growth EditorCovers Leadership & Growth and more for Peepals Shakti. All stories by Priya Nair
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Priya Nair is a pen name of the Peepals Global Editorial Team, which researches, fact-checks and publishes every story. The portrait is an illustration.
