Nate Tibbetts, Natalie Nakase and Stephanie White will assist Kara Lawson coaching the U.S. women’s basketball team at the FIBA Women’s World Cup in September.
The trio of WNBA coaches were on staff for the World Cup qualifying tournament in March.
“Over the last several months, I’ve seen the incredible impact Natalie, Nate and Stephanie have each had on the USA Women’s National Team program,” USA Basketball Women’s National Team managing director Sue Bird said. “They have elite basketball minds and are all leaders who understand what it takes to represent the U.S. at the highest level.”
The U.S. has won the last four World Cup titles and will try to make it five in a row in Berlin. The team will be selected this summer and could feature young stars Caitlin Clark and Paige Bueckers to go along with four-time WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart.
Tibbetts is in his third season as head coach of the Phoenix Mercury while Nakase is in her second year with the Golden State Valkyries. White is in her second year in charge of the Indiana Fever.
Nakase was the WNBA Coach of the Year last season after leading the expansion Valkyries to the playoffs. She has a decade of NBA, WNBA and international coaching experience. Before taking over at Golden State, she served as an assistant for the Las Vegas Aces, Los Angeles Clippers and Agua Caliente Clippers. She also was the head coach of the Saitama Broncos (Japan) and Wolfenbuttel Wildcats (Germany) and assistant coach for the Tokyo Apache.
Tibbetts guided the Mercury to the WNBA Finals last season before they lost to the Aces. He joined the team in 2024 after spending 12 years as an NBA assistant with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Portland Trail Blazers and Orlando Magic.
In 2025, White led the Fever to their first WNBA Commissioner’s Cup and deepest postseason run since 2015 as the team advanced to the WNBA semifinals. White’s first stint with the Fever, where she served as both an assistant coach and head coach over six seasons from 2011-2016, included five consecutive WNBA semifinal appearances, two WNBA Finals and the 2012 WNBA Championship.
White earned 2023 WNBA Coach of the Year honors with Connecticut after leading the Sun to the WNBA semifinals.
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