Clippers Promote Casey Hill and Natalie Nakase

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Natalie Nakase Explains How She Became an NBA Coach

Nakase is one of only five women who have coached in the NBA, the others being Becky Hammon (San Antonio Spurs), Big3 Coach of the Year Nancy Lieberman (Sacramento Kings), Jenny Boucek (Sacramento Kings / Dallas Mavericks), and Nicki Gross (Toronto Raptors), Nakase was the first female coach to sit on an NBA team’s bench, when she served as an assistant coach for the Clippers’ 2014 NBA Summer League team. She is the fourth woman, joining Hammon, Lieberman and Boucek, to coach during the regular NBA season.

CN: Now that you’re on the Clippers’ player development staff, what is your typical day like, and what do you do to help the team and players get better and win more games?

NN: Right now, in the off-season, it’s all about the players and what they want to work on ahead of the upcoming season. For the veterans, they’re usually traveling and spending time with their families. Doc encourages our coaching staff to go visit the players in their hometowns and continue to build strong relationships. If our schedules work out, I’ll be visiting Luc in Cameroon in a few weeks. There I will be putting him through skill workouts and observing him playing pickup games with local players. Our younger players are already back in LA and working out. As player development coaches, it’s our job to constantly manage their daily schedule and make sure they understand how to work as a pro. Not only are they working on their basketball skills, they’re working on their bodies in the weight room, receiving therapy and doing anything and everything they can to improve themselves to ensure they’re ready for the upcoming season.

CN: How would you describe your basketball philosophy?

NN: My philosophy has always been based off my mentors and basketball experiences. Assistant coach Armond Hill, has been my mentor for the past five years. I am very grateful for him because he takes the time to teach me about the game and his experiences as an NBA player. I think my main point, from his teachings and through my basketball experiences, is that you can’t cheat the game of basketball. Meaning that all of your work, including off-season training, pre-game preparation, studying film, studying your opponent, pre-game meals, rest, and post-game recovery in taking care of your body, all of it is important. If you cheat the preparation, then it will be exposed on the court. Great players live their lives with purpose and train their mind and body for the toughest moments.

Michelle Uzeta, Clips Nation

[Quake Griffin]

Pretty cool.

Organization doing better on all fronts.


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