SAN FRANCISCO >> Natalie Nakase made history in 2011, after the head coach who gave her a chance stepped down midseason.

Nakase became the first woman head coach in the history of Japan’s top men’s basketball league, for the Saitama Broncos. She’d gone to Japan — where her grandparents were born — to play, but learned the league didn’t allow foreigners. Coaching, then, was the best way for Nakase to stick with the game her late father taught her to love as long as she remembers.

“I remember after games, there would be a ton of women surrounding me after games, just saying, ‘Thank you’ and, ‘Arigato,’ ” Nakase, 44, told reporters Thursday.

In Japan, Nakase explained, women are more submissive to men in society than they are in America. Leading a team of men was seen as even more groundbreaking than it would be here, where no woman has been head coach of an NBA, MLB or NFL team.

“So for them, it was just really powerful to see a woman yelling at refs, trying to get a technical,” Nakase said. “I just remember this one woman, she’d come every single time and bring me treats and things. And she said something in Japanese, and I asked my translator what she said. And she’s like, ‘You’re my hero.’ ”

Nakase could now be a hero in the Bay Area, where 18.8% of the population is Asian. When the Golden State Valkyries, the WNBA’s first expansion team that’s set to begin play in 2025, announced they hired Nakase on Thursday, she became the first Asian American head coach in league history.

“It means a lot, I’m going to start crying,” Nakase said.

It took general manager Ohemaa Nyanin five months of interviewing candidates from the professional, international and collegiate level to choose Nakase. The interest in the position for the expansion club surprised Nyanin, who is confident that Nakase checks off all the boxes she wants.

“We were looking for a leader that understood the opportunity that this expansion team has to impact the league,” Nyanin said. “(Owner Joe Lacob) and I were looking for a person who leads with empathy, humility and inclusivity. Somebody who embraces the opportunity to build with myself and (Lacob). Someone who had competitive, grit, grind, and someone who was purpose-driven.”

Nakase displayed some of those qualities on the dais in the Bill King Interview Room at the Chase Center. She spoke eloquently and with passion. She smiled, choked up, gesticulated, and modulated her voice when discussing her journey, basketball philosophy, and the opportunity ahead.

Nakase spent the past three years with the Las Vegas Aces, winning back-to-back titles. As Becky Hammon’s number two, she helped Las Vegas post the best defensive rating in the league in 2023.

Before that, Nakase served as an assistant coach in a dual role between the Los Angeles Clippers and their G League affiliate. She’d paid her dues overseas — after walking on as an undersized point guard at UCLA and then playing professionally, including for the defunct San Jose Spiders.

While the Southern California native worked for the Clippers, Nakase admired the Warriors’ winning culture from afar. From the top down, that’s the task ahead — championships. Lacob made his stated goal of winning a title in the franchise’s first five years clear to Nakase in a lunch with her. She understands the expectations.

“I just like the challenge that (Lacob) wants to be No. 1,” Nakase said. “That’s what sports is about. That’s the beauty of sports. You want to be No. 1, you want to be a champion. ... Nobody remembers second place. Everybody remembers the champion. So that’s what drives me.”

The expectations were the same in Las Vegas, where owner Mark Davis was similarly competitive.

When Nakase called Aces star A’ja Wilson Wednesday night to tell her she was taking the Golden State job, both the three-time MVP and coach cried.

“We just talked about our relationship and how much it meant for each other to be in each other’s lives,” Nakase said. “But more importantly, what I told A’ja is to continue to shine and to continue to be authentic. And that, for me, she’s a role model. Because she’s so unapologetic to being her true self.”

That sounds like a lot of empathy, humility and inclusivity. As for the rest of what Nyanin was looking for — competitiveness, purposefulness, grit — well, that doesn’t seem to be a concern.

“I’m going to pour all my energy and my heart and my soul into this organization,” Nakase said. “I just can’t wait to build a championship team, because that’s what this fan base deserves.”

The Valkyries have the foundation of a team, but still don’t have any players. The expansion draft is set for Dec. 6 and the draft for their inaugural season will be held in April.

Nakase said she wants to play with pace and move the ball, just like the Warriors. She said she wants to do what she can to keep players local in the offseason, leveraging their own practice facility in Oakland, to create continuity. She wants to hire a coaching staff of diverse, authentic people and take the X’s and O’s she learned from Hammon to the Bay.

For a team with an empty roster, the buzz is palpable — from the record 17,000 season-ticket deposits to the championship aspirations.

“She’s got a great reputation,” Steve Kerr said of Nakase. “Pretty impressive what the Valkyries are putting together without even having any players yet. The branding is really cool, the colors, the name, the people who are coming in — Ohemaa is a star. She’s an amazing person, I’ve gotten to know her a little bit behind the scenes. She’s building her group, obviously. A lot of impressive people.

“I think the Valkyries, before long, are going to be a flagship franchise in the WNBA. They’re building something really powerful.”