WNBA franchise thrown into chaos after unprecedented 28-year first forces dramatic relocation
Nobody can quite believe what the Golden State Valkyries have achieved this season, not even the Valkyries themselves.
In their inaugural WNBA season, the league’s latest expansion team pulled off an unprecedented feat – punched their ticket to the 2025 playoffs at the first time of asking.
Not only that, but they locked in their postseason berth with three games to spare of the 2025 regular season, with a win record currently standing at 23-18.
The Valkyries entered their contest on Thursday night against superstar rookie Paige Bueckers and the Dallas Wings knowing that all they needed was to win to be in.
With the Valkyries and Wings trading points blow-for-blow, the result ultimately hinged on one clutch bucket, and an and-1, from in-form guard Veronica Burton.
With 27 seconds left on the clock in the fourth quarter, and the shot clock winding down rapidly, Burton drove into the paint before hitting a tough fall-away shot – contested by Bueckers – which was banked in off the glass.
It gave Golden State a five-point cushion with 22.3 seconds left of the game. While Bueckers tacked on two of her 27 points on the night right after, the Wings just could not close the gap enough and lost 84-80.
The ensuing scenes were filled with joy and pandemonium as the team celebrated history by becoming the first expansion team in WNBA history to lock in a playoff berth in their debut season.
“I kind of blacked out,” Burton said laughing when asked to describe what went through her mind when she took off for that clutch bucket.
“I don’t even know what I was feeling. … I was just trying to get a bucket when it mattered in crunch time. I wasn’t looking for the foul, I was just looking to finish. … It was a huge help having everyone instill a bunch of confidence in me.”
Unfortunately for Ballhalla fans, though, should they reach the second round of the playoffs, the team would be unable to host a game at Chase Center due to scheduling conflicts.
The first-round is due to begin on either Sept. 16 or 17 and but the Chase Center – also home to the NBA franchise Golden State Warriors – is hosting tennis’ Laver Cup, which has been on the docket for over two years – more than the age of the Valkyries franchise.
The men’s tennis tournament sees the six best tennis players from Europe go up against the six best players from the rest of the world and will take place from Sept. 19 to 21.
But the arena needs ample time to set up and make the event fit for purpose, which means that there is little-to-no chance, regardless of whether the Valkyries are the higher or lower seed, to play their games at home.
Instead, they will travel 48.4 miles away to San Jose to play at the SAP Center, the home of the NHL franchise, San Jose Sharks.
“While we would have loved to host our first playoff game at Chase Center and sought every opportunity to try and make that happen,” Valkyries president Jess Smith said in a statement.
“Ballhalla has never been about just one building — it’s about the incredible community our fans have created. We’re confident that same energy will translate to San Jose.”
But Burton has confidence that the Valkyries faithful will follow the team wherever they go.
“We can’t control it,” Burton said. “We have faith in our fans that they are going to continue to show out for us. Wherever we play, we’re going to bring our basketball. We’re confident, we’re excited for the opportunity to compete. Regardless of where we’re at, we’re going to show up.”
It was nine months ago exactly that the Valkyries curated their 12-player roster entirely from scratch, doing so via both the 2025 WNBA Draft and a one-off expansion draft.
There, Golden State were able to select one player from each of the existing 12 teams in the league from a list of six provided by each team.
That meant star players were off the table, and instead, the team was built on rotation players, overlooked veterans and unproven rookies, such as Kayla Thornton – who earned her first All-Star call-up this season – and Caitlin Clark‘s former Iowa Hawkeyes teammate Kate Martin.
The onus was then on former Los Angeles Clippers assistant coach -and two-time WNBA champion as an assistant coach with the Las Vegas Aces – Natalie Nakase to piece everything together and make it work in her first year in the big chair.
But without egos and with a squad full of players who have all faced adversity, and brought with them the desire to prove to the league that they deserve to be there, the Valkyries contingent have done nothing all season but showcase an unbreakable camaraderie on their way to defying all odds.
Perhaps that has been the formula for success all along, and the WNBA’s next wave of expansion teams that begin to roll in from 2026 onwards should probably take note.
Stay up to date with the latest from the NFL across all platforms – follow our dedicated talkSPORT USA Facebook page and subscribe to our talkSPORT USA YouTube channel for news, exclusive interviews and more.
What's Your Reaction?
Like
0
Dislike
0
Love
0
Funny
0
Angry
0
Sad
0
Wow
0
