An unlikely first meeting with Valkyries head coach Natalie Nakase

OAKLAND, Calif. - EDITOR'S NOTE: KTVU sports reporter Bailey O'Carroll had a chance to reconnect with Valkyries head coach Natalie Nakase. They first met when O'Carroll was in high-school with lofty dreams of becoming an NBA coach. Ten years later, they reunited but in their new roles as women with careers in sports.  

Our first meeting

The first time I met Natalie Nakase was 2012. She was a video intern with the Los Angeles Clippers, and I was a high-school student who dreamed of becoming the first female head coach in the NBA. 

We spoke on the phone once for about 45 minutes. During that time, I took rigorous notes while picking her brain about everything from the perfect shooting motion to life philosophy. 

We didn't speak again until more than a decade later.  

Chance encounter 

I ran into her in an elevator at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, each on our way to the Golden State Valkyries expansion draft-- this time she was in her new role as a WNBA head coach and me as a sports reporter. 

She remembered me and my name, and I was surprised until I found out why. 

At the top of their game 

Our third meeting was on the practice court at the Valkyries' newly renovated practice facilities. 

Cameras were rolling for a one-on-one sit-down interview. 

"This isn't the first time we've met," I said. 

"No," Nakase responded. "I remember when you first reached out, I remember saying to myself, ‘I’m just an intern I don't know how to mentor.' I couldn't believe you were reaching out."

In 2012, there were very few women who shared my dream. 

I read an article about Nakase and then got passed her email address. 

So I handwrote my drafted email in a composition notebook in bright purple pen, then typed out the email. 

She responded. 

Wise words

In that 45-minute conversation, the first thing I took note of that she told me was that "people are more capable than they think."

A philosophy she still applies today. 

"I like to push people's limits,"Nakase said. "That's something my Dad did. If you believe you can be that good, let's see if you can be the best."

I also took note of a drill she described to me in which she splits everyone into two groups and requires each group to make 10 shots from 12 different spots on the court. 

She laughed when I mentioned it. 

"Yes, I still run this," Nakase said. "My first team in Japan were like ‘This is impossible,’ It is supposed to take 10 minutes, it took them 40."

In the years since that initial conversation, Nakase's path has taken her from being a video intern with the Clippers to being the first Asian-American head coach in the WNBA. 

What's next:

She makes her head coaching debut in the Valkyries first game of the inaugural season on May 16.