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Valkyries general manager Ohemaa Nyanin couldn’t remember the exact game. The opponent, the date, was less important than the profundity it delivered, and the peace that came with it.
“It was a gritty win,” she said. Most of Golden State’s 23 wins, a WNBA record for an expansion franchise, could be described as gritty. But this one, especially. Because Nyanin, like the rest of her team, could sense the urgency. The need for a win, the pressure of the playoffs, the adversity of injuries, the grind of a season. The Valkyries felt a different kind of weight, and coach Natalie Nakase turned up the heat, to get her players to dig deeper.
When Golden State gutted out the win, it produced an especially euphoric Valkyries locker room after the game. The music blasted. The players danced. And Nakase did what was most unexpected. The fire-breathing coach, the notorious grinder, the woman with a farmer’s work ethic and a sailor’s tongue, she stretched a smile across her face and danced with her team.
“She saw that they needed to see her that way,” Nyanin said, beaming as she remembered the visual, “and let loose for like 15 seconds. It was a great 15 seconds. They saw it. They were so happy. … And then she locked in and gave another prolific postgame speech.”
