Golden State Valkyries

The Golden State Valkyries are the WNBA franchise of the San Francisco Bay Area. The team was founded under the ownership group of the NBA’s Golden State Warriors and began play in 2025 at Chase Center. In two seasons they produced the fastest rise in league history. In 2025 they became the first expansion team in WNBA history to reach the playoffs in its inaugural season. In 2026 they won the WNBA championship, beating the Atlanta Dream 4–3 in the first Game 7 the WNBA Finals had ever produced. Head coach Natalie Nakase built both teams around defense, depth and a roster largely assembled from the 2024 expansion draft. Gabby Williams, signed in free agency in April 2026, became the face of the title run.

Vitals
Founded	Announced Oct. 5, 2023; first season 2025
League / conference	WNBA / Western Conference
Arena	Chase Center, San Francisco
Owners	Joe Lacob and Peter Guber
General manager	Ohemaa Nyanin (hired May 6, 2024)
Head coach (Nov. 8, 2026)	Natalie Nakase (since Oct. 10, 2024)
Titles	1 WNBA championship (2026)

Origins: the expansion franchise (2023–2024)

The award. The WNBA announced on Oct. 5, 2023 that it was expanding to the Bay Area, with play to begin in 2025. It was the league’s first new franchise since the Atlanta Dream joined in 2008. The ownership group of Joe Lacob and Peter Guber, who also own the Warriors, paid an expansion fee reported at $50 million over 10 years. The new franchise was set up from the start as a sister organization to the Warriors, sharing their arena and business infrastructure.

Building the front office. Ohemaa Nyanin, an executive with the New York Liberty, was introduced as the first general manager at a Chase Center press conference on May 6, 2024. Eight days later, on May 14, 2024, the club revealed the name “Valkyries” and a violet, black and gold identity, with team offices and a practice facility in Oakland and home games across the bay at Chase Center.

The coaching hire. On Oct. 10, 2024, the Valkyries named Natalie Nakase their first head coach. Nakase was a former UCLA point guard and had been an assistant with the Las Vegas Aces during their 2022 and 2023 championships. Sports Illustrated reported the appointment as historic: she was the WNBA’s first Asian American woman head coach.

The expansion draft. In December 2024 the Valkyries stocked their roster through the expansion draft. Their picks included guard Veronica Burton, forward Kayla Thornton, Italian forward Cecilia Zandalasini, French center Iliana Rupert and forward Monique Billings. Few of the selections were established starters, and most outside forecasts had the team near the bottom of the league. In the 2025 college draft they added Lithuanian guard Justė Jocytė at No. 5 and Kaitlyn Chen at No. 30. They also signed veteran guard Tiffany Hayes and French forward Janelle Salaün before their first season.

The inaugural season (2025)

A slow start. The Valkyries played their first game on May 16, 2025, losing 84–67 to the Los Angeles Sparks. Their first win came on May 21, 2025, 76–74 over the Washington Mystics. After a 2–5 start, Nakase’s team settled into an identity built on defense. By season’s end the Valkyries allowed 76.3 points per game, the fewest in the 13-team league. Their offense ranked 10th.

Thornton’s All-Star turn and injury. Kayla Thornton, taken from the New York Liberty in the expansion draft, led the team at 14.0 points and 7.0 rebounds per game and became the franchise’s first All-Star. On July 25, 2025, the team announced that she had undergone season-ending surgery on her right knee after an injury in practice. She had played 22 games. The injury came with the team at 10–12 and in playoff contention.

Burton’s breakout. Veronica Burton, a reserve guard before the expansion draft, became the team’s lead playmaker at 6.0 assists and 11.9 points per game. She was named the league’s Most Improved Player and made the All-Defensive Second Team. Per the Valkyries, via CBS Sports, she was the first player in WNBA history to improve year over year by 8+ points, 4+ assists and 2+ rebounds per game.

History clinched. The Valkyries clinched a playoff berth with an 84–80 win over the Dallas Wings on Sept. 4, 2025. No expansion team had made the playoffs in its first season. Before them, the best inaugural record belonged to the 1998 Detroit Shock at 17–13, and that team missed the postseason. Golden State finished 23–21, the most wins by any WNBA expansion team in its first season, and fourth in the West. The Minnesota Lynx, the league’s top team, swept them 2–0 in the first round.

“Ballhalla.” The Chase Center crowd, nicknamed “Ballhalla,” became a league story of its own. The Valkyries sold out all 22 home games. Their total attendance of 397,408 and average of 18,064 set WNBA records, and they were the first team in league history to sell 10,000 season tickets. At the season’s awards, Nakase was named Coach of the Year, Salaün made the All-Rookie Team, and team president Jess Smith received the league’s inaugural Business Executive Leadership Award.

The championship season (2026)

The Williams signing. On April 12, 2026, the second day of free agency, the Valkyries signed forward Gabby Williams to a multiyear deal. Nevada Sports Net reported it as three years and $3.7 million. Williams came from Seattle, where in 2025 she had made her first All-Star team, made the All-Defensive First Team and led the league in steals. The Valkyries had also re-signed Burton.

A 32-win regular season. Golden State went 32–12, nine more wins than in 2025, and finished second in the Western Conference. Williams led the team at 14.4 points per game, followed by Salaün (12.7) and Burton (12.2, with a team-high 5.7 assists). Center Kiah Stokes led in rebounding at 5.8 per game. The team was deep rather than star-driven: ten players averaged at least 3.6 points.

Salaün’s record bench season. Janelle Salaün was named the 2026 Sixth Player of the Year, receiving all 74 votes. She was the award’s first unanimous winner since it was created in 2007. Just Women’s Sports reported that her 509 points off the bench set a WNBA single-season record.

The playoff run. The Valkyries went 9–4 in the postseason. They beat the Dallas Wings 2–1 in the first round, then swept the Las Vegas Aces 3–0 in the semifinals. The Aces were the franchise where Nakase had won two titles as an assistant. In the Finals they met the Atlanta Dream. Atlanta won Game 6 to force the first Game 7 in WNBA Finals history, in the second year of the best-of-seven Finals format, which the WNBA adopted in 2025.

Game 7. On Oct. 31, 2026, at Chase Center, Golden State won 68–63. Atlanta led by six at halftime and by seven in the third quarter. Williams then scored 28 of her game-high 30 points after halftime, including 15 in the third quarter, per the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Tiffany Hayes added 11 points. Burton had 10 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists. For Atlanta, Jordin Canada scored 18 and Allisha Gray 16. Williams was named Finals MVP after averaging 19.6 points and 2.6 steals in the series. The league noted that Golden State, in its second season, was the fastest team in the NBA, NFL, NHL or MLB since 1967 to win a championship after its founding.

Nakase and the core

The coach. Nakase’s two seasons produced a 55–33 regular-season record, two playoff berths, a Coach of the Year award and a title. Her teams were built on defense. The 2025 team allowed the fewest points in the league, and the 2026 team won Game 7 while scoring only 68 points. Her rotations leaned on depth rather than a single high-usage scorer.

Burton. Veronica Burton went from expansion-draft pick to the team’s lead guard. She led the Valkyries in assists in both seasons (2025, 2026) and is the player most closely tied to the franchise’s first two years.

The European wing group. Salaün, Zandalasini and the team’s other European players gave the Valkyries a perimeter group of shooters and secondary playmakers. Salaün developed from an All-Rookie selection in 2025 into the record-setting Sixth Player of 2026.

Veterans and the frontcourt. Tiffany Hayes, the oldest of the regulars, was a starter in 2025 and a playoff contributor in 2026. Kayla Thornton returned from her 2025 knee surgery and started all 44 regular-season games for the title team (7.7 ppg). Kiah Stokes anchored the frontcourt, averaging 10.0 rebounds per game in the 2026 playoffs.

Williams. Gabby Williams was the 2026 signing that turned a playoff team into a champion. She led the team in scoring in both the regular season and the playoffs (21.0 points per game) and won the franchise’s first Finals MVP.

Retired numbers

On Nov. 8, 2026, after two seasons of play, the Valkyries had not retired any jersey numbers or raised any honorary banners for players, coaches or executives. The 2026 championship banner is the only banner in the franchise’s history.

No.	Player	Pos.	Team tenure	Retired
—	None retired (through Nov. 8, 2026)	—	—	—

Season by season

Every Valkyries season, per Basketball-Reference.

The 2020s 55–33 · 2 playoff berths · 1 Finals · 1 title

Season	W–L	Finish	Playoffs
2026	32-12	2nd (West)	Won WNBA Finals (ATL 4-3)
2025	23-21	4th (West)	Lost First Round (MIN 0-2)

By the numbers

Franchise marks

Per Basketball-Reference and the Golden State Valkyries, through Nov. 8, 2026.

Ranks

• 1st WNBA single-season average attendance, 2025 (18,064)
• 1st Fewest points allowed per game, 2025 (76.3)
• 1st Wins by a WNBA expansion team in its inaugural season (23)
• 2nd Western Conference standings, 2026 (32–12)

Per Basketball-Reference, the Golden State Valkyries and CBS Sports, through Nov. 8, 2026.

Honors

• 2026 WNBA champion
• 2026 Finals MVP: Gabby Williams
• 2025 Coach of the Year: Natalie Nakase
• 2026 Sixth Player of the Year: Janelle Salaün (unanimous)
• 2025 Most Improved Player: Veronica Burton
• 2025 All-Star: Kayla Thornton
• 2025 All-Defensive Second Team: Veronica Burton
• 2025 All-Rookie Team: Janelle Salaün

Per WNBA.com, WNBA.com and CBS News, through Nov. 8, 2026.

The arguments

Was the rise built or lucky? One view credits the front office and coaching staff. Nyanin’s expansion draft favored players who were undervalued on their old teams, such as Burton, Thornton and Zandalasini, and Nakase’s defensive system turned them into the league’s stingiest defense in its first season. The other view stresses timing. The best-of-seven Finals format and the free-agency market of April 2026, which brought in Williams, gave a young team an unusually fast route to a title. That route also needed a Game 7 comeback from a third-quarter deficit. Both sides agree the 2025 playoff berth was not a fluke, because the 2026 team improved by nine wins.

Can it become a dynasty? After the title, the main question was whether the roster would stay together. Williams signed a multiyear contract in April 2026. Other key pieces faced questions: EssentiallySports reported after the Finals that the general manager, Ohemaa Nyanin, did not commit to Salaün’s future after her playoff minutes fell, saying only that the team would “assess when the time comes.” Supporters of a dynasty case point to the Warriors ownership’s resources, the record attendance and a coach who already had two titles on her résumé as an assistant. Skeptics point out that no team in the modern WNBA had stayed at the top without a single dominant star. They also note that the 2026 Valkyries won with depth, which is harder to keep intact than a star.

The Atlanta rivalry. The seven-game Finals against the Dream, including the league’s first Game 7, created the franchise’s first real rivalry with an Eastern Conference team. On the Atlanta side, the series is remembered as the Dream’s fourth Finals loss. In the West, the semifinal sweep of the Aces added an edge to the matchup with Nakase’s former team.

Why it matters

The Golden State Valkyries changed what the WNBA expects from an expansion team. Earlier expansion teams spent years at the bottom of the standings. The Valkyries made the playoffs in their first season, set the league’s attendance records and won a championship in their second. The league described that as the fastest title for a new franchise in the four major American leagues since 1967. Their success showed that a WNBA team backed by the full resources of an NBA organization in a large market could win immediately, both on the court and as a business.