{"id":898606,"date":"2026-09-17T01:50:13","date_gmt":"2026-09-17T01:50:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/898606\/"},"modified":"2026-09-17T01:50:13","modified_gmt":"2026-09-17T01:50:13","slug":"wnba-valkyries-missing-gabby-williams-janelle-salaun-cecilia-zandalasini","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/898606\/","title":{"rendered":"WNBA: Valkyries missing Gabby Williams, Janelle Salaun, Cecilia Zandalasini"},"content":{"rendered":"

OAKLAND \u2014 The Golden State Valkyries<\/a> are officially back in the Bay Area and at practice.<\/p>\n

Most of them<\/a>, at least.<\/p>\n

As Golden State prepared Wednesday to face the Portland Fire on Friday at Chase Center, the Valks were without frontline players Gabby Williams, Janelle Salaun and Cecilia Zandalasini, all of whom recently returned from playing integral roles while representing their countries at the FIBA World Cup.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

Salaun and Williams led France to the gold medal game, where they lost 97-79 to the United States on Sunday in Berlin.<\/p>\n

\"FrenchFrench players pose with silver medals after the Women’s Basketball World Cup final match between the United States and France in Berlin, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026. (AP Photo\/Ebrahim Noroozi)<\/p>\n

A quick 12-hour flight or so later, they returned to the Bay Area. But not yet to the practice court at Sephora Performance Center in Oakland.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat day is it right now?\u201d quipped coach Natalie Nakase, navigating her own adjustment period after helping Team USA to gold as an assistant coach. \u201cEveryone\u2019s different, so I\u2019m giving them their space and time. I want them to be healthy after this four-game stretch (to end the regular season).\u201d<\/p>\n

Developmental reserve Miela Sowah, who represented Australia at the World Cup but did not play heavy minutes, was at practice Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Nakase indicated that the three key Valkyries players who had significant roles for their national teams will be eased back into WNBA competition as Golden State closes out the regular season.<\/p>\n

\"Italy'sItaly\u2019s Cecilia Zandalasini shoots over Jackie Young, of the United States, during the Women\u2019s Basketball World Cup match between the United States and Italy in Berlin, Sunday, Sept. 6, 2026. (AP Photo\/Ebrahim Noroozi)<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I\u2019m tired, I can only imagine how they feel,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s a check-in. So when do they wake up or what time? I woke up at 4 o\u2019clock in the morning. So it\u2019s giving them that space to sleep. Don\u2019t feel pressured. Rest, recover, because we want to be healthy come playoff time. So whatever that looks like.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Valkyries played without the trio in their 86-69 rout of the Fire in Portland right before the World Cup break on Aug. 30. They may have a nearly identical assignment Friday night.<\/p>\n

With four games remaining in the regular season, Golden State (29-11) sits in second place, two games back of Minnesota (31-9) for the top seed in the WNBA playoffs.<\/p>\n

Behind them are Las Vegas (27-13), Atlanta (26-14) and Indiana (26-14), all of which could usurp them for the second seed.<\/p>\n

\"LASLAS VEGAS, NEVADA – JUNE 21: Kaitlyn Chen #2 of the Golden State Valkyries drives against Jackie Young #0 of the Las Vegas Aces in the third quarter of their game at Michelob ULTRA Arena on June 21, 2026 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Aces defeated the Valkyries 92-73. (Photo by Ethan Miller\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

So the final slate of Portland and Seattle back-to-back at home, then a short road trip to face Portland on Tuesday and Los Angeles next Thursday, is a significant four-game stretch.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have no other option but to respond,\u201d said point guard Veronica Burton, who stayed behind and played well in leading the Valkyries against Portland. \u201cSo I expect nothing less of us.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a weird break. But at the end of the day, you can take advantage of it. So we got rested. We got back in the gym. We\u2019ve been training, competing, and now we just get back at it. I mean, every single team had it, so there\u2019s no excuse with that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Facing a trio of non-playoff teams presents an opportunity for the Valks to set themselves up for the best possible seed while reintegrating players who just laid it on the line internationally.<\/p>\n

\"GoldenGolden State Valkyries\u2019 Veronica Burton (22) and her teammates react after a referee ruled a foul against her in the fourth quarter of a WNBA game against the Minnesota Lynx at Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026. (Ray Chavez\/Bay Area News Group)<\/p>\n

It\u2019s hardly an ideal scenario given the Valkyries\u2019 rip-roaring success before the break, which saw them end on a four-game winning streak while blowing Minnesota, Connecticut, New York and Portland out of the water on the road.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s not a bad runway to pick up speed before the playoffs start on Sept. 27 in San Francisco.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhoever is available is available,\u201d Burton said. \u201cWhoever is not, not. We show up. We compete, and that\u2019s what I\u2019m focused on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Subscribe to our special Valkyries newsletter<\/a> for game analysis, scores, and everything you want to know about the team from Ballhalla.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"OAKLAND \u2014 The Golden State Valkyries are officially back in the Bay Area and at practice. Most of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":898607,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[629],"tags":[49,3335,48,1612,82,630],"class_list":["post-898606","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-ca","tag-california","tag-canada","tag-golden-state-valkyries","tag-sports","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/898606","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=898606"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/898606\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/898607"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=898606"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=898606"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=898606"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}