Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase, general manager Ohemaa Nyanin, and president Jess Smith hugged during the trophy ceremony at Chase Center on Oct. 31. Golden State had just won Game 7 of the WNBA Finals over Atlanta, 68-63, to claim the franchise's first title.
Nyanin met with reporters for her exit interview on Tuesday.
The hug was public. The three had wanted a moment behind the scenes, too. Golden State went 23-21 in 2025 and became the first expansion team in league history to reach the playoffs in its inaugural season.
"I just got goosies," Nyanin said. "I don't have all the words in this moment to describe why we embrace the way we did. We are three very different humans that came together for one cause, which was to bring a championship to the Bay. In addition, change how people view women's sports, women's basketball, the WNBA, really put our foot forward in treating people the right way and making sure that culture is [seen] in a positive light and not a negative light and to lead, and to try to continue to define what Valkyries means being a new team."
"And then trying to do that for each other and then our staffs more specifically," Nyanin continued. "I think we've seen each other in all of the high highs and the low lows. And that moment, while public, I think we all wanted it behind the scenes. We didn't know if we were going to be able to see each other, like the celebration will be the celebration. But just a quick acknowledgement of hopefully more time to reflect on how individually and collectively we came together and achieved our goal."
Nyanin wanted the title for staff members across the building, including director of performance Lorena Torres Ronda's group. Torres Ronda was hired in February 2025 as the franchise's first director of performance.
"I first wanted to know what color the confetti was," Nyanin explained. "Because I'm a very detail-oriented person. So I had no idea. I think then I was like, I didn't know if the Dream [won], if it would be different colors or any of those things. So I had to look at the color of the confetti and then I had to look at the board to say, congratulations, Valkyries, for it to hit me in that moment. Zero, zero, zero. I see people embracing. I took one second to just be like, oh, it just happened. And then I snap back into, OK, yep, I need to go see my people and give people hugs."
"When you work really hard for something, and you achieve it in any sense of the word, it's sometimes an out-of-body experience," Nyanin added. "Sometimes you're able to put all the words together. For me, it's a combination of the two because I really wanted this championship for the village. I wanted it for our athletes. I wanted it for Coach Natalie and the staff, for Lorena and our performance team, for Denise and our operations team, for Jess and her business team, for Mr. Joe. For all the people that supported us behind the scenes, from being able to allow me to sit in different meetings that I probably had no business sitting in just for me to continue to understand what the Golden State culture was and is and how we can continue to enhance it with our experiences. So it's a long answer to a very good question. But as you can tell, I'm still reflecting through it."
Veronica Burton made two free throws with 5.1 seconds left to seal Game 7. Gabby Williams, the Finals MVP, scored 30 points.
Golden State had trailed the series 2-1 and trailed 30-24 at halftime of Game 7.
Lacob hired Nyanin as Golden State's first general manager on May 6, 2024. She was working behind the scenes at the time as the New York Liberty's assistant general manager.
"I genuinely am not trying to be obtuse," Nyanin said. "I'm really trying to find the words to describe the feeling. One feeling that I feel throughout that I can be authentic about is gratitude. Mr. Joe hired me. This is a really important connection for me. Somebody who saw me when I was completely behind the scenes and decided to give me the opportunity to take on this job."
"Jess, Natalie, we've talked about, these are two people that went on the journey," Nyanin detailed. "Natalie said yes to the journey. Jess said yes to collaborating with me. So gratitude for sure is what I feel, and our athletes and all the different storytelling behind that, that you guys have done such a really awesome job in the 48 hours. I have not read a word, but I will when I'm ready to receive it all. But yeah, that's something I can say."
Nyanin spent five years with the Liberty and was promoted to assistant general manager in 2022. Smith was hired as team president in January 2024 after serving as head of revenue for Angel City FC of the NWSL.
When the Bay Area was awarded the franchise, Lacob guaranteed a championship within five years. Lacob credited the three hires after Golden State won it in Year 2.
Nyanin said Nakase arrived open to doing things differently than she had across her NBA and WNBA career. Nakase was named WNBA Coach of the Year in 2025, her first season as a head coach in the league.
"I think authenticity and really trying to get to know each other, first and foremost," Nyanin said. "Two, not being afraid to have the hard conversations. Three, really wanting to see each other thrive in our roles. We're really good about pushing each other to do what's right in each of our roles. And so the support for each other has been immense. And there's no need to take light from anybody else, right? We just want to continue to add light together because all of us putting our light together will shine brighter."
"I'll keep talking about it, but I think Mr. Joe Lacob did an insane job of hiring," Nyanin continued, "because he saw myself and Jess being two completely different people and didn't know if we were going to collaborate. Some way, somehow — you would have to ask him — thought that we would be able to. And then Coach Natalie coming in and being open to doing things differently than how she's done it in her career, both in the NBA and the WNBA, is huge. Acceptance that regardless of how people have done it in the past, in our individual collective experiences, we're going to do it differently, but we're going to do it together. We didn't let each other fall. And we definitely, behind closed doors, always made sure that everybody was okay. And so I think that's how we were able to forge a bond so quickly, was that the selflessness that Coach Natalie talks about in terms of our athletes, we embody as leaders as well."
Golden State hired Nakase on Oct. 10, 2024. She was an assistant with the Los Angeles Clippers from 2018 to 2020 and spent the 2022 through 2024 seasons as a Las Vegas Aces assistant, winning titles in 2022 and 2023.
The Valkyries went 32-12 this season and 9-4 in the playoffs. They swept the defending champion Aces in the semifinals before beating Atlanta in the seven-game Finals .
Golden State is the 14th team in North American professional sports history to reach the postseason in each of its first two seasons, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
