A San Fran Startup Success: Valkyries Claim WNBA Title in Second Season

Written by: Dallin Duffy

On May 14, 2024, a previously unnamed WNBA expansion team announced its brand identity, including its catchy name, striking color scheme and slick logo. The Golden State Valkyries were born that day, and exactly 900 days later, the franchise won the WNBA Finals.

Housed in San Francisco — the epicenter of startups, venture capital and constant pitching — the team became a unicorn. From the start, the club ran things the “right” way. They crushed the expansion draft, picked up Natalie Nakase, an assistant coach during the Aces’ dynastic run, to run the show, and grew a passionate fan base that instantly invested in the idea.

The debut season surpassed expectations. Golden State won 23 games and became the first expansion side in WNBA history to make the playoffs during its inaugural season. Expansion draft selections like Kayla Thornton and Veronica Burton, who won Most Improved Player of the Year, helped make that campaign so special.

The group still needed one last piece to really put it over the top. Enter Gabby Williams. A free agent after four spectacular years in Seattle, the two-way All-Star joined Golden State as the team’s first big free-agent acquisition.

“For a player of Gabby’s caliber to choose us in just our second year … means everything,” said general manager Ohemaa Nyanin at the time. The playmaker actually managed to surpass expectations, turning in a career year and becoming the face of the whole operation, leading the Valkyries to a 32-12 record. In just their second season of operation, they finished with the league’s second-most wins.

That was just the regular season, though. Surely the playoffs would be too much for the electric startup, right? No, not really. The team lost just one game over the first two rounds, taking care of Dallas before knocking out the defending-champion Aces in convincing fashion to reach the Finals.

There, Williams played superhero. She shined throughout the series, including a 30-point gem during the first Game 7 in WNBA Finals history, to down Atlanta and push the Valkyries to the mountaintop. A team that should still be finding its footing became the best in the sport.

Williams, while Finals MVP, wasn’t the only hero from the group. The aforementioned Burton and Thornton showed up throughout the playoffs, as did veteran Tiffany Hayes and unsung hero Kiah Stokes — who has now won four of the last five WNBA championships.

We could go on and on and mention every player, because it really was a true team effort. Golden State featured league-best depth throughout the regular season, and that deep bench full of quality players all stepped up on the road to a ring.

Let’s not forget the fans, either. In just two seasons, Golden State supporters turned the Chase Center into “Ballhalla,” the scariest place to play in the WNBA for visitors. Passionate fans brought stadium-shaking noise and a never-back-down mentality that made the group’s fierce defense even tougher. The team went 7-1 at home during the playoffs.

In a league accustomed to slow-burn rebuilds, the Golden State Valkyries moved fast and broke the mold, scaling a blank-canvas expansion roster into a winning investment in just two seasons.

Everything came together at the championship celebration in early November. Fans decked out in violet — less than 1,000 days after it was picked as the primary color — and turned the Bay Area into a rocking party. Panini Instant captured the moment with special-edition cards that no fan will want to miss.

Consider the WNBA standard model completely disrupted.