Basketball · World
Natalie Nakase’s unlikely journey: a 5-foot-2 walk-on, coach in Japan, and now in the WNBA Finals
Every step of her basketball journey, there was a logical reason why Natalie Nakase was unlikely to get a shot. At 5-foot-2, she didn’t have the profile (even as a walk-on) to play at UCLA. She played professionally in the shadows, competing for unheralded teams like the San Jose Spiders and San Diego Siege in the short-lived and now-defunct National Women’s Basketball League. From there, she coached in largely unrecognized outposts, like leading the Saitama Broncos in Japan or the Wolfenbüttel
Related stories
NBA season live updates: Jalen Williams' brutal injury, Luka Dončić's 52-point night, Knicks fall to 0-3 and more opening-week reactions
Follow along for all the latest as the 2026-27 NBA season wraps up its first week on Monday.
‘Focused on the finals’: WNBA players ignore President Trump’s national anthem warning
United States President Donald Trump took aim at the WNBA last week, criticizing players in the WNBA Finals…
Maryland men’s basketball’s frontcourt will be defined by Pharrel Payne — but there’s help
For the 2026-27 season, the Terps have the forward depth they sorely missed last year.
Knicks Have Issues To Sort Amid 0-3 Start
The New York Knicks became the first defending champions to start 0-3 since the 2011-12 Dallas Mavericks after…
Jalen Williams is injured again, but OKC Thunder teammates know he'll 'fight back'
OKC Thunder star Jalen Williams suffered a significant left leg injury during a game against the Los Angeles…
No. 7 Texas basketball falls to St. John's at MSG in exhibition opener
Sean Miller's Longhorns basketball team opened its preseason at Madison Square Garden where No. 7 Texas fell to…