How did the Golden State Valkyries make history, fast-track to WNBA title in 2 years?

By ANNIE COSTABILE and BRIAN HAMILTON / THE ATHLETIC

Only two years into their existence, the Golden State Valkyries have won a WNBA championship. They did it with their typical grit and determination, and some sensational shooting from Gabby Williams.

The Valkyries beat the Atlanta Dream, 68-63, on Saturday night, winning the first Game 7 in league history.

If you are looking for comparisons to what this women’s basketball team has done, consider this: No expansion franchise in the major North American men’s team leagues — the NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB — ever won a title so quickly. (Several expansion teams have won the MLS championship either in their inaugural year or shortly after joining the league.)

Williams struggled for most of the finals, and scored only 2 points in the first half of Game 7. But she finished the night with 30 points, including 28 points in the second half, setting a record for most points in a single half in WNBA postseason play.

When she stepped to the middle of the court to accept the trophy for being the finals’ most valuable player, the celebration became a lovefest.

“It’s easy when the energy is this good and positive,” she said.

Coach Natalie Nakase said the Valkyries players made it happen because of their unconditional love for one another.

But, really, how did this happen?

Everyone likes to go back to the billionaire with nothing to lose. Joe Lacob, who owns the Valkyries and is also an owner of the NBA’s Golden State Warriors, introduced his expansion women’s basketball team in October 2023 with a single-minded purpose even before it had a name. Everyone goes back to that guarantee.

“I’m telling you right now, we will win a WNBA championship in the first five years of this franchise,” Lacob declared then.

It was brash and fun. It was also easy for him to say. So what if he was wrong? Nobody was going bankrupt if an obscenely rich man’s clock ran out and there still was not a trophy in the case. What’s the downside of throwing $50 million into the well and making a wish?

But after fulfilling his guarantee early, even Lacob was struck by the wonder of it.

“Two years — it’s insane,” he said after the game. “It’s just a lot of good decisions, a lot of good execution, a great coach. I really want to give the credit to those three women,” he said, pointing out Nakase; general manager Ohemaa Nyanin; and team president Jess Smith. “I’ll give myself credit for hiring them, but other than that, they did it, and they were all spectacular.”

The real trick is that none of the thinking since his bold promise was wishful.

None of them wanted to create the next Warriors. They were obsessed with being the first Valkyries.

“If you’re blue and gold, you will forever be compared to the Warriors, versus being two unique products that get to grow into two powerhouse opportunities,” Smith said. “You can’t be that if you want a unique brand that’s going to have the same opportunity to grow into what the Warriors have also built.”

Never mind that this became true in a couple of ways, given the Valkyries would play in the same 18,000-seat palace as their NBA counterparts and practice at a complex that still has an old Warriors sign on the roof. That reflects fair and important advantages not many established WNBA teams had, or even have today.

Valkyries fans seem to understand this. Perhaps the loudest applause of the postgame celebration at Chase Center came when guard Tiffany Hayes lauded not only the rise of her team and the WNBA but also their place in a larger, growing ecosystem.

“This is what happens when you invest in women’s sports,” she said to a thunderous ovation.

Despite low scores in a defensive finals matchup, and even a Thursday afternoon Game 6, viewership held strong. Perhaps it was because the Valkyries and Dream would not wilt, forcing the series to go seven games.

The Valkyries have often been described as a team of castoffs. Though not inaccurate, given the Valkyries are the first champion without an All-Star, they understood what differentiated them.

“All it took was good people. That’s it,” said Williams, who added four blocks. “All we heard all year: ‘We don’t have no stars. We don’t have no talent.’ Yeah, right. We got good people. We got winners.”

The game looked like it was headed toward another slog as neither team eclipsed the 40-point mark until more than halfway through the third quarter. These are the games the Valkyries live for, but it appeared this could be the one they died by as the Dream led by as many as 9 points.

The Valkyries’ offense hinged on Veronica Burton (10 points) scoring in isolation while Williams struggled in the first half. The team went into the locker room shooting 30% from the field and 9% from 3-point range. The Dream were not much better, but the Valkyries had no answer for Jordin Canada, who scored 13 of her team-high 18 points in the first half.

Everything changed when Williams caught fire. In one run, she made six of 12 shots, including three consecutive 3-pointers, helping Golden State take a 1-point lead into the fourth quarter. She scored 15 points in the third quarter and 13 points in the fourth. For the game, she shot 10 of 23, made four of eight 3-point attempts and all six of her free-throw attempts.

“Give Gabby all the credit,” Dream coach Karl Smesko said. “She made us pay, and she made us pay repeatedly.”

Nakase “told me to stay patient,” Williams said of the first half. “I trust her with my life. I stayed patient.”

The Chicago Sky drafted Williams No. 4 in 2018. She spent three seasons there, going 45-45, and winning one postseason game. In 2021, the club put her on the full-season suspension list because it did not want to wait for her to get back from her French national team commitments. While suspended, she was traded to the Los Angeles Sparks, who, the next year, sent her to the Seattle Storm. In four seasons with Seattle, she missed 58 games because of injuries.

When free agency came last year, it was the first time Williams — heading into the eighth year of her pro career — really had control over her path. She chose the Valkyries and their fast-tracked timeline for success.

Winning a title once is not a sports miracle.

But doing it in less than three years … maybe is?

“Joe set the standard,” Nakase said. “Whoever takes this job has to win in five years. So I was like, yes, that’s going to happen, but even faster. I’m impatient. I’m obsessive, but it’s because he pushes me.”

The Valkyries have their sights set on getting back here … again and again.

“We think there’s more to come,” Lacob said Saturday night.