| Golden State Valkyries | |
|---|---|
 2025 Golden State Valkyries season | |
 | |
| Nickname | GSV Valks |
| Conference | Western |
| League | WNBA |
| Founded | 2025 |
| History | Golden State Valkyries 2025–present |
| Arena | Chase Center |
| Location | San Francisco, California |
| Team colors | Violet, gold, black, white[1][2][3] |
| President | Jess Smith |
| General manager | Ohemaa Nyanin |
| Head coach | Natalie Nakase |
| Assistants | Kasib Powell Sugar Rodgers Landon Tatum |
| Ownership | Joe Lacob Peter Guber |
| Website | https://valkyries.com/ |
TheGolden State Valkyries are an American professionalbasketball team based in theSan Francisco Bay Area. The Valkyries compete in theWomen's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of theWestern Conference. The team began play in the 2025 season. While the Valkyries play their home games atChase Center in San Francisco, their practice facility and front office are located inOakland.[4] Chase Center is nicknamed "Ballhalla" during Valkyries games, a reference toValhalla in Norse mythology, whereValkyries bring select fallen warriors.
TheWomen's National Basketball Association (WNBA), which started in 1997, previously had a team in northern California, theSacramento Monarchs, which played from 1997 until folding in 2009, despite winning a league championship in 2005.[5] After the Monarchs folded, the WNBA remained steady with 12 teams, although there was often talk of expanding the league.[5]
On September 26, 2023,The Athletic reported that the owners of theNBA'sGolden State Warriors,Joe Lacob andPeter Guber, were finalizing an agreement to start a WNBAexpansion team in San Francisco.[6] Lacob had previously helped found theAmerican Basketball League (ABL), which played before the WNBA, and owned one of their teams, theSan Jose Lasers.[6] The ABL folded in 1998 and the Lasers were the lastSan Francisco Bay Area women's professional basketball team.[6]
On October 5, 2023, the expansion team was officially announced, with plans to begin play in 2025, as the first expansion team in the WNBA since theAtlanta Dream in 2008.[7][8][9][10] The expansion fee for the franchise was reported to be $50 million over 10 years.[11] It was reported that the team's name would include "Golden State", with announcement of the name, logos, and uniforms to come at a later date.[10]
Within the first few hours of being announced, over 2,000 season ticket deposits were placed.[10] On January 30, 2024, Jess Smith, an executive withAngel City FC of theNWSL, was hired as the team's president.[12] On April 16, the team surpassed 6,000 season ticket deposits.[13]Ohemaa Nyanin was announced as general manager on May 7.[14] A WNBAexpansion draft occurred in early December 2024, and Golden State participated in its firstWNBA draft in April 2025.[15][16][17]
The team name – Golden State Valkyries – and logos were revealed on May 14, 2024.[18] The logo features theBay Bridge, symbolizing the connection between San Francisco and Oakland with the cables doubling as wings and the tower doubling as a sword. The thirteen lines from the sword represent the Valkyries as the thirteenth team in the league, and the wings split the space into five triangles to represent the ten players on the court. The outer shape is a V to represent the Valkyries.[18]
The team mascot, Violet the raven, was revealed on August 11, 2025, at Chase Center at halftime.[19][20]
The Golden State Valkyries made itsWNBA debut on May 16, 2025, with an 84–76 loss to theLos Angeles Sparks,[21] but the team secured its first-ever regular season win just five days later on May 21, defeating theWashington Mystics 76–74.[22] The Valkyries finished May with a 2–3 record and carried strong form into June, posting a 7–4 mark. July opened with difficulties, as the Valkyries managed only one win before theAll-Star break – an 80–61 victory over theIndiana Fever[23] – entering the break at 1–5 for the month. On July 25, the team announced that star forwardKayla Thornton would miss the remainder of the season due to a right knee injury suffered in practice.[24] Despite the setback, Golden State closed July with a 3–1 run. On August 13,Veronica Burton became the first player in franchise history to score 30 points in a game during an 88–83 win over the Mystics.[25] Three days later, Golden State set a WNBA record for most wins by an expansion team in its inaugural season, earning an 18th victory with a 90–59 triumph over theChicago Sky,[26] surpassing the1998Detroit Shock.[27] On August 30, the Valkyries recorded a franchise-high 37-point win, defeating the Mystics 99–62 with contributions fromJanelle Salaün (20 points) andCarla Leite (19 points off the bench).[28] The team finished the month with an 8–5 record. The Valkyries made further history on September 4, becoming the first expansion franchise to reach theWNBA playoffs in its inaugural season following an 84–80 win over theDallas Wings.[29][30] Three days later, the franchise announced it had sold out all 22 home games atChase Center, setting records in both total (397,408) and average (18,604) attendance for the regular season.[31] Golden State concluded the regular season with a 23–21 record, earning the eighth seed and a first-round matchup against the top-seededMinnesota Lynx.[32] In Game 1, the Valkyries opened with a double-digit lead but ultimately fell 101–72 after the Lynx took control in the second quarter.[33][34] Their season ended in Game 2 with a narrow 75–74 loss, as Minnesota overcame a 17-point deficit andCecilia Zandalasini missed a buzzer-beater that would have forced a Game 3.[35][36]
Built from former sixth women and role players, international standouts, and young rookies, the Valkyries routinely defied expectations, rejecting comparisons to past expansion teams and using early doubt as motivation.[37] Their breakthrough season was recognized across the league: head coachNatalie Nakase was named theWNBA Coach of the Year with 53 of 72 votes;[38]Veronica Burton was named theWNBA Most Improved Player after posting career highs across the board and becoming the first player in league history to increase her averages by at least five points, two rebounds, and two assists from one season to the next,[39] Burton also receivedWNBA All-Defensive Second Team honors;[40]Janelle Salaün was selected to theWNBA All-Rookie Team;[41]Jess Smith received the inauguralBusiness Executive Leadership Award;[42] andTiffany Hayes earned the WNBA Cares Community Assist Award.[43]
| Season | Team | Conference | Regular season | Playoff Results | Head coach | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | PCT | ||||||
| Golden State Valkyries | ||||||||
| 2025 | 2025 | West | 4th | 23 | 21 | .523 | Lost First Round (Minnesota, 0–2) | Natalie Nakase |
| Regular season | 23 | 21 | .523 | 0 WNBA Championships | ||||
| Playoffs | 0 | 2 | .000 | |||||
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On October 10, 2024,Natalie Nakase was hired by the Valkyries to be their first head coach.[44]
| Golden State Valkyries head coaches | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Start | End | Seasons | Regular season | Playoffs | ||||||
| W | L | PCT | G | W | L | PCT | G | ||||
| Natalie Nakase | October 10, 2024 | Current | 1 | 23 | 21 | .523 | 44 | 0 | 2 | .000 | 2 |
The Valkyrie Figure incorporates gold, the team's secondary color, with golden armor creating a regal, statuesque look. The Valkyrie Violet in the cape ties back to the team's core color, unifying the design.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)Sports teams based in theSan Francisco Bay Area | |||||||
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