Golden State Valkyries

The Golden State Valkyries did not merely arrive in the WNBA in 2025 - they rewrote the expansion playbook entirely. Backed by the Golden State Warriors ownership group led by Joe Lacob, the Valkyries became the first expansion team in WNBA history to make the playoffs in their inaugural season, posting a 23-21 record that stunned a league accustomed to expansion franchises spending years in the cellar before becoming competitive. Playing at Chase Center in San Francisco, the Valkyries sold out all 21 home games and drew an average of 18,064 fans per contest, the highest average attendance in WNBA history - a testament to both the Bay Area's appetite for women's basketball and the Warriors organization's expertise in building a premium game-day experience.

The on-court success was no accident. Head coach Natalie Nakase, who earned 2025 WNBA Coach of the Year honors with 53 of 72 first-place votes, built a cohesive, competitive roster from the expansion draft and free agency that played with an identity and purpose far beyond what anyone expected from a first-year team. The Valkyries' season ended with a heartbreaking 75-74 loss to the number one seed Minnesota Lynx in the first round of the playoffs - a single point separating them from an even more historic upset - but the manner of the loss only reinforced how close this team already was to legitimate contention.

The Valkyries' debut season set a new standard for what an expansion franchise can achieve, and their impact extended well beyond wins and losses. In a market as commercially significant as the Bay Area, with NBA-caliber facilities, ownership resources, and front-office infrastructure, the Valkyries instantly became one of the WNBA's flagship franchises. The foundation is laid, the fan base is ravenous, and the question facing Golden State is no longer whether this experiment can work - it is how quickly they can turn a remarkable debut into a championship.