Transcript: GSV head coach Natalie Nakase on working with Becky Hammon, her time with Clippers, and the hardcore life of a video coordinator

from February 2024

I took the liberty of transcribing a clip of this interview. The whole conversation is great. This was from February 2024 when she was still the lead assistant coach with the Las Vegas Aces.

Reminder of her bio from Wikipedia:

Nakase grew up in Orange County, California, where she was honored as the county's high school player of the year. She played college basketball for the UCLA Bruins, receiving honorable mention as an all-conference player in the Pacific-10 in 2002. A third-generation Japanese-American, she became the first Asian American to play in the National Women's Basketball League (NWBL). She also played in Germany before suffering a knee injury and retiring as a player. Nakase went into coaching, and served as a head coach of a women's team in Germany before becoming the first female head coach in Japan's top pro men's league. Nakase returned to the United States, joining the Clippers of the NBA as a video intern in 2012. She became an assistant coach to their NBA G League development team, Agua Caliente, in 2017. She became an NBA assistant for the Clippers in 2018, and joined the WNBA's Aces in 2022, when she became the first Asian American coach to win an WNBA title.

Transcript of Clips

Injuries and coaching

Schindler: When did you kind of first know coaching was the thing for you? Because I know you went, like, right from playing into coaching, got back into playing for a little bit, and then into coaching again. So, like, did that just kind of happen a little bit organically, or was that something that you thought would happen?

Nakase: No, I never wanted to be a coach. I had so many people, you know, even when I was in high school, saying, “You’re going to be a great coach.” I was like, “I don’t want to coach.” It just didn’t seem… I wanted to play forever, you know, and as an athlete growing up and dedicating your whole life to how you train and your daily habits, you enjoy it. I love training. I love working out. That’s probably why I’m a good coach in that way, because I want to be in the gym all day. I actually was just talking to AC last night. She’s like, “Yeah, so you can be in the gym all day long and you’re happy?” And I’m like, “Yeah, that’s… you know, that’s just how I grew up as an athlete.”

And then, you know, it just happened. The injuries came about, and now looking at our players and seeing how many injuries they’ve endured and gotten through, I’m like, “Wow. I wish I was, like, you know, a Kiah Stokes or AC [Alysha Clark] or Chelsea Gray,” because they just go onto the next, onto the next with their injuries, whereas I, right away, after I tore my first ACL, I was like, “I’m done. This is not for me.” The rehab… it was really discouraging. And I look back and think, “I should have never said that.” You know, just be careful what you say out loud. Never say things; just take it in. I wish I could have played longer, but, you know, coaching was right there, and I’m obsessed with basketball. If you know me, that’s all I do. I eat, sleep, drink basketball. I breathe basketball. So, this ended up being the next step where I can be in the gym all day.

The hardcore life of a video coordinator with the LA Clippers

Schindler: Yeah, no, definitely. And I know, like, reading up on your coaching career, it’s been very circuitous. You know, you kind of have hit every single part of coaching that you possibly can. But I really want to ask about coming up in the video room, because I think for a lot of people, they can hear, “All right, this person’s a video coordinator,” and envision you, like, flipping stuff. But I think a lot of people don’t realize how intense being a video coordinator is for a professional basketball team. So I was wondering if you could kind of elaborate on what that was like coming up with the Clippers with that, because it’s… yeah, it’s different.

Nakase: Yeah, it definitely was different, especially coming… you know, I was coming from being a head coach in professional men’s basketball in Japan, and then, you know, going from my position of being kind of the leader in my organization to being at the bottom… it just kind of humbled me, you know? And I was ready for it because it was something completely different. The NBA language and terminology were things I’d never learned before. So, for me, I kind of treated it as, like, college… like another four or five years of college, just being able to watch film, sit there with a coach. And, you know, I got paired up every year with a different coach, and you just start to learn, you know what I mean? So much; you’re just like a sponge. And I loved it. As much as people say it’s tough, it is one of the toughest jobs in the NBA because there are a lot of sleepless nights. I think I averaged, like, four to five hours a night for sleep. But I loved it, though. You know what I mean? Like, I would have never done it if I didn’t really enjoy cutting up film until one or two o’clock in the morning, and the coaches would say, “I need this game,” and I’d have it ready, labeled, right. You know, just… having that sense of urgency and staying on your toes but also learning. And then you get to go on the floor, rebound, and play for the players, get to know the players, and you’re kind of in that space. I mean, you’re just constantly learning. And for me, that was so, again, satisfying in terms of my growth and why I wanted to be in the NBA.

Schindler: Yeah. What was learning SportsCode like for you?

Nakase: OK, so I come from overseas, right? And back then, it was Skype and email. Yeah, that’s what I knew about using a computer. And luckily, I had some really good guys who also did video, and they kind of pulled me aside and were like, “OK, let me break this down for you real quick.” Actually, we didn’t have SportsCode; we had XOS at the Clippers.

Schindler: OK. I don’t even know XOS. I’m 26, so I only know SportsCode.

Nakase: Yeah, so XOS was just… oh, it was harder because any time you had to take a game and cut it up, you always had to check out. So this checkout period took, like, 40 minutes. Yeah, so imagine putting a game on a computer for your coach and then needing to get out for a flight right after practice. And so the sense of urgency and time was just an adrenaline rush every time because you just hoped it checked out on time. But, anyway, so yeah, it was like a video game. You know how SportsCode is. It’s like a video game. Learning how to cut up. But I think one thing that the head video guy at the time told me, he said, “Do it. Cut up a film in fast forward, like four times fast.” And I was like, “I’m not going to be able to see anything.” And he’s like, “No, just trust me. Your eyes are going to catch up eventually.” And so once I started doing that and actually had to code a live game, because that was another stressful thing…

I don’t know if you’ve done that yet.

Schindler: Luckily, not yet. But eventually.

Nakase: Yeah, it’s really stressful. But then, once you watch so many games, because you have to cut up, like, five to six games a day and then label them, once you do a live game, you can’t mess up. But then the game becomes super slow as you watch it, because you’ve been cutting up at four times the speed. So, yeah, those were interesting moments. You figure it out, right? You study, and plus, you’re in the facility for so long, in the video room for so long. I mean, you’re eventually going to catch up and learn.

Schindler: Yeah, no, that’s actually great advice, because I’m trying to teach myself to do it more this spring. And yeah, that’ll be interesting, to say the least. But it’s so different now, too, because, like, I mean, it gives you such a different appreciation for when it’s actually done. Because, I mean, there are some games, like, you can do it… like, at least for me, because I use Instat and Synergy, and anytime I see a game go up within, like, an hour, I’m like, “Oh, wow, that video coordinator is really on top of it.” And there are other games where I’m like, “Wow, I really want to tell that staff to get that fucking game because I’ve been trying to watch it for two days.” But yeah, that’s actually incredible.

Nakase: Yeah. Every time I pass video coordinators in the back end of an arena, I’m just like, “God bless you,” because I can’t even imagine it right now. And then, if you have a coach who went through video, right, and now is, like, the person you’re connected to, and if you make a mistake and they don’t like mistakes because they probably got yelled at, then, you know, you’re getting hammered for a wrong play call or a wrong action. But it’s all, you know, a great learning experience. And I love the coaches that really helped me and called me out and held me accountable, because now, like, everything I do going forward, it’s like you’re just holding other people accountable now.

Life as an assistant coach in the NBA

Schindler: Yeah. Yeah. As a coach moving forward, like once you got more on the bench, how did that impact your approach?

Nakase: Well, I needed to learn the NBA, you know, with the schemes, because, I mean, they were calling out, like, “X out” or “this is a dra—,” just so many terms that I’m just like, “I don’t see it. I don’t know what I’m talking about.” During practice, we’d have to be there with a towel and a ball and just watch, and I’m like, “I see nothing.” I realized, “I better learn and catch up because I want to be able to see.” That was my biggest thing when I picked a lot of coaches’ brains—just being able to see, like, see what’s going to happen next, to see the actions in real game time. So, yeah, I was grateful for being in that space because, you know, I’m not one to speak unless I know what I want to say. Especially in the NBA, you have one chance with the players. So if an NBA player asks, “What set was that?” and if you get it wrong, they’re just going to be like, “Oh, I’m not listening to her anymore.” So I was big on making sure I knew everything the correct way. I’m not one to just jump in and say, “Oh, I know the answer,” because the players won’t trust you. Trust was the biggest thing for me in that space, especially as a woman. It took time.

Schindler: Yeah, no, definitely. It’s interesting too, because like you’re saying, I think, so I, like, started on a whim—same as you, I wasn’t in basketball. I was working to be a professional boxer, but, as you mentioned, injuries have a way of making everything not happen quite like you think. So I went from training, you know, 10-12 hours a day while also in school, to being on bedrest while I recovered for a good six months. I went from being a casual NBA fan to watching, like, three or four games every night. I remember asking my friend, once I realized how much I loved basketball and wanted to pursue it, “When does the game catch up to you?” Because as much as I watched, I didn’t pick up on things quickly. My friend, who worked formerly for the Grizzlies, was like, “Trust me, just keep watching.” It’s funny because, obviously, I’m not even close to where you’re at in seeing the game, but it’s like, even just going back a year, I can see more than I did then. Like, I can see what’s happening in the pick-and-roll, watch the big, or see what’s happening at the point of attack. Now, I can see how it’s developing and notice, “Oh, I saw that play six times last week across different games.” It’s funny the way our brains work in picking up things like that.

Nakase: It’s like learning a new language. Eventually, you’ll get it. You’ll pick it up, and the game will just become slower for you.

Working with Becky Hammon

Schindler: Yeah. It just keeps layering. Well, moving from that, obviously, coming to Las Vegas… I know Becky was the one who got you there, but did you guys have a relationship prior, or what was that like when you first heard from her?

Nakase: Yeah, it was more like we played against each other. After college, we played in kind of a league, kind of like AU right now—just a league for players who didn’t go overseas. So we played against each other, and I knew she was good. She would just put me in pick-and-rolls, hold my arm, and then, you know, the ref would call a foul on me or whatever. She was very crafty. Once we got into the league, we just knew of each other. We respected each other from afar. At the time, I think we were the only two women in the NBA, so I’d casually see her, say hi, catch up. But we weren’t super close. So when I found out she wanted to get on the phone with me, a close friend, a mutual friend of ours named Jenny Boucek, who’s with Indiana right now, was like, “Trust me, you’re going to want to take the call.” I was a little apprehensive because I didn’t know her. But our first phone call was almost two hours—it never stopped. We just got to know each other, and I got to pick her brain. Right away, I asked her about the San Antonio playoffs versus us, like, “Why’d you guys do this?” It just kept on layering, talking about our experiences. We’d gone through so many similar things in the league, just being the only female. You do get treated a little differently because you’re not a male. So that was really good because we just had so many things in common—common interests, growing up as not the tallest point guard in the league. That was another connection. And then I thought, “Man, I could learn a ton from her.” That was the first thing that clicked in my mind. She’s a great person. She wanted me on her staff, and I was like, “I can’t pass this up.”

Schindler: Yeah, it’s like, dude, I mean, shoot, Becky Hammon wants you on her staff? How do you pass that up, right? A couple of things on that too—it’s funny, like you mentioned with her playing undersized. I grew up in the mid-to-late 2000s, so I didn’t really know much about the WNBA; it wasn’t super accessible for me. Since I took this job two years ago working for the league, I’ve made it a mission to go back and learn as much as I can about the past. Watching Becky in San Antonio is insane. She’s one of the best below-the-rim finishers I think I’ve ever seen. The angles and stuff she hit regularly… it’s just like, “How do you even do that?” It’s crazy. Because, again, you can look at her stats and think, “Oh, she was really efficient,” but then you look at the shots she was taking and how effective she was, and I’m like, “What the hell, dude?” Unreal player.

Nakase: Yeah, so imagine how she is as a coach, right? She went through all those experiences, the games, just the minutes of experience she’s had. I mean, now she gets to, obviously, teach Chelsea, teach Kelsey, just teach all our girls the things that she’s gone through. And I think that’s important with any head coach who wants to be at the top level, whether it’s NBA or WNBA. I think being a player has so many more layers to it than people think. I mean, when she breaks down film, it’s just unbelievable. Like, she’ll talk about… sometimes we talk about bad shots—what’s a good shot, what’s a bad shot? And she’ll say, “See how so-and-so, one of our players, caught it? She wasn’t in rhythm; her step wasn’t right; she was just standing too long.” And I’m like, “That’s how we’re breaking down a shot?” You know what I mean? Sometimes it’s just like, uncontested, contested—that’s a shot. But it’s the way they catch it, the timing of their step, and then their release. I mean, those are things that only someone with her experience can talk about. So again, I’m blessed just to learn from her.

Schindler: When did you kind of first realize that it was going to be special in Las Vegas?

Nakase: Well, I mean, just again, our coaching staff, right away, we clicked. I think that was key. And then with the players, we didn’t know them. So that was a really interesting time of us just getting to know them. And for them, it was like, “Who’s going to play? Who’s going to start? Who’s going to have certain minutes?” I just remember them being super competitive, you know, because they all wanted to play. I just remember we had to have… Becky was all about, “Okay, we got to communicate. There’s got to be a lot of conversations,” because not everyone’s going to play 40 minutes. So I remember our first year, just having a lot of tough conversations. Like, “Hey, you may play a lot, but then if this matchup isn’t working, you’re going to have to come out.” Just things like that. And when I saw that we were just taking Becky’s advice and kind of molding into pretty much a family feel—fast forward two years later—but that first year, when we listened to her, we took her advice, and they executed it. You know what I mean? Our players executed it. And when you see that type of trust in our first year, I thought that was really special.

Going into our second year, our target was kind of like this, maybe in our first year, because I think we were ranked fifth or sixth that first year—we were projected. And then, obviously, that second year, it was like, “Okay, it’s time to beat the Aces.” You know, here comes New York; they decided to get a couple more players, and so then our target became like this, right? Like, here we go.

And that second year, yeah, it took a lot out of us. We were completely exhausted after the season because we got everyone’s best shot. We got everyone’s best game. I mean, they look at a calendar, they see Las Vegas Aces, and they’re circling it. And so that helped us prepare for the playoffs. But because we were so close, even after that first year, that built us even closer that second year.

And so then, you know, game four came around, and we’re like, “Chelsea Gray’s out. Kiah Stokes is out.” So we’re like, “What are we going to do? What are we going to do?” But Becky came up with a great game plan. Her adjustments to that game were… I’m not obviously going to go into detail about that, but it was unbelievable, her ideas. And then we had one day to practice. So we practiced it. The girls bought in immediately. And then we’re like, “Holy crap, is this going to work?” You know, we’re like, “Is this going to work?” Just because, again, this was so new to us. Cayla George is now starting, Sydney Colson now has to guard Sabrina. So many different layers were happening. And then what ended up really happening is that, once I got to take a second and look at the film, it was just… honestly, it’s because our team chemistry was just top-notch. And people say, “Okay, team chemistry, you guys like each other.” No, we actually loved each other. It’s crazy to say that, but when we talk about having a great teammate and wanting that person on either side to be more successful than our own self, then we knew that’s actually what really made us win game four—that put us over the top, you know?

The importance of chemistry and benching Kelsey Plum

Schindler: Yeah, it’s really funny, because I feel like when I first started off, I used to think, “Oh, well, you can out-scheme or out-talent everything,” and blah, blah, blah. It’s funny, because the more I really get to know and understand the game and the people in it, it’s like, no, dude, you have to… the buy-in has to be there. Like, the reason great defenses happen is because you have people who trust one another, and, okay, good switching happens because you’re able to minimize a pocket because you have that communication and trust with somebody. It’s the kind of thing I never used to think about. I’d think, “Oh, well, they just suck at doing it,” you know, like, whatever. And exactly like you’re talking about in that game, I mean, the defensive game plan was awesome. AC played one of the best individual defensive games I’ve ever seen somebody play. I wrote about it. I stayed up that night to clip it again and write about it. So, like, it was nuts. And she guarded everybody, was awesome, just did everything—it was so fun to watch. But no, exactly. Like, I think it sounds cliche, but just the cliches are what matter most, it seems, in a lot of ways.

Nakase: Yeah, I mean, people talk about team chemistry, and I just try to keep explaining to them. I mean, we’re like family, like every day. It’s the off-season, and our coaching staff hangs out with each other all the time—we’ll go out to lunch, go to dinners. It’s not just on the court; we do so much stuff outside. And, you know, this was Becky’s idea. This all stems from Becky. Like, I’m a true believer in, okay, people talk about culture, okay, to help out team chemistry. But if your head coach isn’t a genuine person and genuinely knows how to relate to people of all different areas, then it’s, to me, not gonna work. I don’t know; it’s just kind of, again, from being, you know, under her for two years and just how she treats you just like family. Instantly, she just has this type of energy and care factor that people gravitate towards her. And because she’s our head coach, then it just trickles down to us as assistant coaches and then to the players. Like, to me, these players are like family. And I don’t just say that to say it. Whatever they need, as coaches, we’re there for them.

Schindler: Yeah, no, definitely. And when you mentioned, too, in terms of getting to know them that first year, what was that like? Because, like you mentioned, that is a very competitive group, which can be a blessing and a curse. Obviously a blessing for you guys, but that can also… I don’t know, there have been locker rooms where that can be a difficult thing. And I know there was an interview you and KP did together not long ago, where she was talking about when Becky first called her, and she’s like, “Oh, well, I’m coming off the bench? What do you mean I’m coming off the bench?” You know, kind of figuring that out. What was that process like, getting used to one another and finding out how everybody ticks?

Nakase: Like I said, it was just a lot of, I would say, uncomfortable conversations. Because you did have to tell players what they sometimes didn’t want to hear. Like, Becky even saying, “I don’t know you, Kelsey Plum, but as I know, you came off the bench last year. So until you prove to me you’re a starter…” Which is kind of crazy now, because we look at her, and she’s one of our hardest workers, and she takes everything to a higher level in terms of professionalism. The way she eats, drinks, sleeps, takes care of her body—I mean, she’s one of the best athletes in the world I’ve been around. With the type of player she was, I mean, she wanted to play 40 minutes. Yeah, I want to play 40 minutes. That’s it, you know? But as we go into playoffs, that’s just… like, that just doesn’t make sense for your body. But, just yeah, a lot of tough conversations.

But I think the players respected that we were upfront, we held them accountable. If they had any questions like, “Why am I not playing? Why am I not getting this amount of shots like I did last year?” or just any type of questions, Becky was like, “Okay, we got to sit them down. We got to answer them, have these conversations.” That was the best thing I think Becky really pushed, like, “Do it now.” We’re not going to wait and let them sit there and think, “Does she want me to do this?” Or, “How does she want me to match up with this player?” No, we were all about having those conversations upfront, right away. And, you know, a lot of people don’t like that, right? They don’t like conflict. They don’t like to be uncomfortable. But we knew if we could nip any kind of indecision and clarify Becky’s philosophy right away, that was the key.