Don’t tell Natalie Nakase she doesn’t have what it takes to do something. The coach of the San Francisco Bay Area’s first WNBA team got to where she is by learning to block out those who underestimated her.

“If I hear one negative thing about my goal, about my dream, it’s out, we’re done,” Nakase told The Associated Press. “It made my circle really small, but it’s made my circle really powerful and encouraging and supportive for me.”

That focus and grit is what led to Nakase, 45, to going from being a walk-on at UCLA to team captain as a 5-foot-2 freshman in 1998. It’s what made her the first Asian American player to join the now-defunct National Women’s Basketball League in 2003.

Nakase is blazing a trail again as the WNBA’s first Asian American head coach. That distinction adds to an already impressive rise to be the leader of the Golden State Valkyries, the league’s first expansion franchise since 2008.

Their inaugural roster also happens to include championship-winning UConn guard Kaitlyn Chen, who last month became the first Taiwanese American drafted.

It’s clear Nakase, who is of Japanese ancestry, isn’t rattled ascending to a larger spotlight. The Golden State Warriors organization, of which the Valkyries are a part of, has prepared her for being more public and “preparation builds confidence,” she said. Coaching is something Nakase expressed interest in as far back as 20 years when she was on the San Jose Spiders.

For people who may not see Asian American women as leaders, Nakase hopes her new role will change minds.

“I think it’s more like what’s in your mind rather than like the exterior part of it,” said Nakase, who at UCLA was often mistaken for a gymnast or tennis player. “The negative opinions fuel my fire, though.”

Nakase’s leadership style is one of “tough love.” It’s an approach she learned from her father. Compliments were not something given in her family. But candor was.

Her father “not only (held) me accountable but, he set higher and higher standards because I think if you believe in yourself — in this — then I want to push you to this,” Nakase said. “If your expectations are here, I want to push you even higher.”

Nakase will be one of four head coaches of color in the WNBA this season.

The other three are Black, but that number is down from six in 2022. Within that subset, Seattle Storm coach Noelle Quinn is the only other female. In 2022, Latricia Trammell became the first Native American or Alaska Native head coach. The Dallas Wings fired her after two seasons.

Only one-fourth of the head coaches in the league are Black, which is a sharp contrast to the fact that roughly 64% of WNBA players are Black or African American, according to a 2023 report from The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport. Hispanic/Latina and Asian players each account for 1.4%. Those who identify as mixed race amount to nearly 11%.

The WNBA is on track to expand to 16 teams by 2028. Toronto — the first outside the U.S. — and Portland, Oregon, will have franchises next year.

Nakase’s presence has electrified Bay Area Asian Americans who already were stoked to have a hometown WNBA team to support.

Teresa and Nathan Chan, who are Chinese American, had bought Valkyries season tickets for themselves and their daughters Adelaide, 16, and Ashlyn, 15. Both girls play for the San Jose Zebras, one of several Asian American youth teams around the Bay Area.

Adelaide said she was “freaking out” when she found out an Asian American woman would be taking a lead in Dub Nation. She sees parallels with Nakase, who also grew up playing in an Asian American league.

“I thought that was just so cool and it felt more so like she was part of our community already,” Adelaide said.

Both Nakase and Chen’s presence have intensified Ashlyn’s interest.

“I didn’t really watch the WNBA like that much before,” Ashlyn said, “but now that I see a lot of Asian representation ... I’m more like, ‘Oh, this is my team now.’”