"Embarrassing and unprofessional" - WNBA fans unhappy with Commissioner Cathy Engelbert's incorrect pronunciation of COTY Natalie Nakase's name

On Wednesday, the WNBA named the Golden State Valkyries' coach Natalie Nakase as this season's Coach of the Year. WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert broke the news to the media in a press conference.

However, she mistakenly mispronounced Nakase's name while announcing her as the winner of the award. Warriors reporter Joseph Dycus shared the video of Engelbert's incorrect pronunciation on his X account.

The fans online were offended by the mishap, and they flooded the post's comment section with their opinions.

"That’s embarrassing and unprofessional [Cathy Engelbert]," one fan said. "Zero effort to do the basics. Not knowing the effing coach of the year’s name in your league? Beyond shameful, embarrassing, and disrespectful. Laziness on display," another fan said. "She fake af. Doing all this rah rah just to not know wtf she’s saying," another fan said.

One fan remarked that Engelbert's failed pronunciation skills revealed that she was not invested in watching the games this season.

"It's so clear she doesn't watch games and has no idea what is going on in the league," teh fan commented. "Can the players negotiate her exit in the new cba???" another fan said. "This is why she needs to go," another fan said.

Natalie Nakase reveals her thoughts on winning the COTY award

Natalie Nakase and the Valkyries were the highlight of this year's WNBA season. The story of an expansion team making it to the playoffs in their first year in the league screams nothing but potential.

The Valkyries finished the regular season in eighth place with a 23-21 record. They booked a spot in the playoffs, surpassing multi-time champions like the Sparks and the Sky.

Nakase had a big role in the expansion team's success. After receiving the Coach of the Year honor, she spoke with the press about her team's ambitions and her thoughts.

"I never aimed for this type of award, and my dad taught me that early on, that it's all about winning," Nakase said before Valkyries' 75-74 series-ending loss to the Minnesota Lynx. "And that's why I took this job because Joe [Lacob] was like, 'If you take this job we've got to win a championship in five years.' That's the goal, so I just wanted to start with that. But what this does is it reflects on [our] whole organization. It starts at the top."

On Wednesday, Nakase's journey as a debutant head coach came to an end as the Lynx closed the first-round series with a 2-0 sweep.

Edited by Krutik Jain