Over a year ago, a lot of people were accusing the Golden State Valkyries of tanking. Not so, we said: the 2025 team was busy defying every expectation that the rest of the league had unjustly placed on them. At the time, you could see where people were coming from: the team was brand new, and despite having a roster full of players determined to win, an elite coaching staff that seemed to immediately gel, and the resources of Golden State Warriors owner Joe Lacob, a lot of people just didn't see the vision.
Well, they're seeing it now.
The Valkyries swept the Las Vegas Aces last night, three straight sets of masterful basketball that will send the second-year team, led by a second-year coach, to the WNBA Finals. This is a historic moment whatever comes next, and it's one that was clear from the beginning.
The first two wins were at Ballhalla, an appropriate reward for fans who have regularly packed the lavender-adorned Chase Center for two seasons. The third was in Las Vegas, at the home of The A'ja Wilson, The Chelsea Gray, The Jackie Young. The Valkyries were down by 11 at one point, and a win seemed unlikely — but, then, they just started fighting back.
The Valkyries have made history before
In 2025 the Valkyries became the first expansion team in the history of the WNBA to make it to the playoffs when they finished the regular season ranked No. 8. What made that even more remarkable is that the team managed that feat with players picked up during the December 2024 expansion draft — players who didn't get the opportunities to shine elsewhere, but found a home in the Bay Area. That's since proven to be merely a sign of things to come; at that time, it was an enormous accomplishment, but it was soon swallowed up by the rest of the playoff series.
That won't happen this year. In three quick games, the Valkyries ensured that everyone — and we do mean everyone — will be talking about Golden State for the rest of this week, the offseason, and well into 2027. The Valkyries achieved this win as a unit, an organization, a real team. They worked together, they ignored the outside world, and they dug deep to do something that, in some ways, was always going to happen.
They've been telling us, and now we have more proof: what's happening at Ballhalla is special, and a delight to see in real time.
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