{"id":161193,"date":"2025-08-20T13:27:13","date_gmt":"2025-08-20T13:27:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/161193\/"},"modified":"2025-08-20T13:27:13","modified_gmt":"2025-08-20T13:27:13","slug":"valkyries-natalie-nakase-rips-mercury-guard-monique-akoa-makani-after-loss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/161193\/","title":{"rendered":"Valkyries’ Natalie Nakase rips Mercury guard Monique Akoa Makani after loss"},"content":{"rendered":"

SAN FRANCISCO \u2014 Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase didn\u2019t hold back on Phoenix Mercury guard Monique Akoa Makani following Tuesday night\u2019s loss<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

At the 6:13 mark of the fourth quarter<\/a>, Makani was called for a tripping foul as tried to stop Valkyries\u2019 guard Veronica Burton from driving to the rim.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Referees deemed the foul to be common, but after watching the play after the game, Nakase said she believed there was dangerous intent behind the foul.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"GoldenGolden State Valkyries head coach Natalie Nakase reacts after a referee\u2019s call in the second quarter of a WNBA game against the Phoenix Mercury at Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Tuesday, May 19, 2025. (Ray Chavez\/Bay Area News Group)<\/p>\n

\u201cI saw Makani kick (Veronica) and I don\u2019t like it,\u201d Nakase said after the game. \u201cWhen I see someone kick one of our players like that\u2019s a red flag for me. I don\u2019t like that type of physicality. \u2026 Tripping a player, for me, that\u2019s not basketball.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cKicking a player, I\u2019m not really happy with that. So the physicality can be what it is, but that\u2019s unacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Burton did not address the incident after the game and did not have a reaction on the court after the foul.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Later in the post game news conference, Nakase was asked if fatigue played a part in Tuesday\u2019s loss and said her rotations played a part in the team falling apart in the second half. But she then pivoted back to Makani later in her answer.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"GoldenGolden State Valkyries\u2019 Veronica Burton (22) reacts after she was hit on the mouth during a defensive play against the Phoenix Mercury in the fourth quarter of a WNBA game at Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Tuesday, May 19, 2025. (Ray Chavez\/Bay Area News Group)<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you get kicked by a player, what are your antennas going to do?\u201d They\u2019re going to be a little nervous because the refs are not calling a kick. We\u2019re not playing soccer,\u201d Nakase said. \u201cIt\u2019s too bad that I didn\u2019t see it at game time. I had to actually see it after the game. But that\u2019s going to make players not want to attack again.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

While Nakase has criticized referees before<\/a>, this is the first time this season she has publicly called out an opposing player after a game.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Valkyries have been ravaged by injuries, having to scratch forward Cecilia Zandalasini (calf) and Tiffany Hayes (rest)<\/a> just minutes before game time. Golden State went into Tuesday\u2019s game without centers Iliana Rupert (concussion) and Monique Billings (left ankle sprain), and don\u2019t have All-Star Kayla Thornton for the rest of the season.<\/p>\n

Burton had a historic game despite the loss, becoming just the third player in league history to have 14 assists and zero turnovers. She also set the franchise record for assists in a single game. Burton finished with a game-high 24 points while making all 10 of her free throw attempts.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Valkyries have lost back-to-back games at home and will get another crack at the Mercury on Friday when they travel to Phoenix.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"GoldenGolden State Valkyries\u2019 Veronica Burton (22) dribbles against Phoenix\u2019s Monique Akoa Makani (8) in the third quarter of a WNBA game at Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Tuesday, May 19, 2025. (Ray Chavez\/Bay Area News Group)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN FRANCISCO \u2014 Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase didn\u2019t hold back on Phoenix Mercury guard Monique Akoa Makani following…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":161194,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[1339,276,2473,4010,1583,67210,15176,15177,1585,27951,15183,15184,15185,62,67,132,68,232],"class_list":{"0":"post-161193","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wnba","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-california","10":"tag-golden-state-valkyries","11":"tag-lake-county","12":"tag-marin-county","13":"tag-mendocino-county","14":"tag-monterey-county","15":"tag-napa-county","16":"tag-north-bay","17":"tag-northern-california","18":"tag-santa-cruz-county","19":"tag-solano-county","20":"tag-sonoma-county","21":"tag-sports","22":"tag-united-states","23":"tag-unitedstates","24":"tag-us","25":"tag-wnba"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115061328925750426","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161193","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=161193"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161193\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/161194"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=161193"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=161193"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=161193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}