The Valkyries aren\u2019t your Young Hos<\/a>. They\u2019re not playoff juggernauts, they don\u2019t house legions of former or budding MVPs. They\u2019ve only existed since 2024, which means they\u2019re younger than some COVID mask policies in western Massachusetts towns. <\/p>\n They also might be the most fun team to watch this WNBA season, and you don\u2019t want to miss out on the final chapter of the league\u2019s coolest expansion success story so far. So buckle up, and take notes. Here\u2019s everything to know about the 2026 Valks: <\/p>\n Gabby Williams is the heartbeat<\/p>\n World, meet Gabby Williams. She\u2019s pretty good. <\/p>\n Williams put up her lowest scoring total of the playoffs in Friday\u2019s Game 3 win over Las Vegas (16 points), but her buckets down the stretch proved especially clutch (she scored half of her points in overtime). Here\u2019s her going iso against an Aces defender late in OT to hit a jumper, giving Golden State an eight-point lead with less than a minute remaining.<\/p>\n Gabby Williams hits a DAGGER to send the Valkyries to the WNBA Finals \u2b50 pic.twitter.com\/59GRZXXxDR<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 ESPN (@espn) October 10, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n The Valks went on to win, 87\u201377, and knock the reigning champs off their pedestal. Afterward, Williams half-joked about flocks of new fans potentially joining the Valks on the heels of their Finals berth: <\/p>\n \u201cWe \u2018bout to have some bandwagoners because we ain\u2019t getting no love all season,\u201d Williams said in her presser<\/a>. Yeah, she\u2019s talking about you. <\/p>\n In one of the W\u2019s most pivotal offseason stunners, Williams chose to sign with the Valkyries and return to the Bay, where she grew up. Following stints with the Sky and Storm, the French star enjoyed a career resurgence in her eighth campaign, averaging 14.4 points in the regular season. She then kicked things up a notch in the playoffs (the sixth of her career), where she\u2019s averaging 22.7 points, 4.0 assists and 4.8 rebounds. Her most productive game actually came in the Valks\u2019 sole postseason loss against the Wings in the first round when she put up a 36-burger.<\/p>\n It\u2019s worth noting that the Valks aren\u2019t your traditional WNBA Finals team. They lack a bona fide superstar, compared to the Breanna Stewarts or A\u2019ja Wilsons of the league. In fact, this year\u2019s Finals will be the first time since 2021 that the Liberty or the Aces won\u2019t be battling for a trophy in the winner-take-all series. <\/p>\n Since the league\u2019s inaugural season in 1997, every champion has without fail boasted a locked-in Hall of Famer on its roster. Before Stewie and A\u2019ja, it was Elena Delle Donne, Maya Moore, Candace Parker, Diana Taurasi, Sheryl Swoopes. Williams, a two-time All-Star and two-time All-Defensive player, has been undeniably clutch for the Valks during the season and on their magical playoff run. But even she\u2019s not at the level of those greats. Not yet.<\/p>\n As a side note, on a pure \u201cvibes\u201d level, Williams might give the best on-court interviews of any player in the W:<\/p>\n BRENNAN: What Will It Take for Caitlin Clark, Fever to Keep Kelsey Mitchell in Indy?\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n Golden State\u2019s fearless defense can win championships<\/p>\n The old adage rings true. Defense wins championships, and the Valkyries just might have the top-performing defensive unit in the league. <\/p>\n Natalie Nakase\u2019s squad is stacked with All-Defensive talent, from three-time WNBA champ Kiah Stokes holding down the fort with her ferocious blocks to Williams\u2019s quickness and length that has allowed her to notch 1.8 steals per game this playoffs. Everyone on the team can defend. And no one slacks off.<\/p>\n For one comparison on how good Golden State is on D: Five-time MVP A\u2019ja Wilson has been tearing teams apart all season long. In the first-round series against the Fever, Wilson averaged 32.0 points and 11.7 rebounds while shooting 64.6% from the field. In the semifinals against the Valks, Wilson sputtered to 23.0 points and 7.0 rebounds while shooting 41.1% from the field.<\/p>\n Kiah Stokes leaving A’ja Wilson to help contest Chelsea Gray quietly might have saved the Valkyries in regulation. https:\/\/t.co\/xMgjrVxfWx<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Kenzo Fukuda (@kenzofuku) October 10, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n The aptly nicknamed \u201cValkatraz\u201d held Wilson and the Aces, owners of the league\u2019s second highest-rated offense, to 77 points across 45 minutes in an elimination game. Let that sink in. The team\u2019s all-around bullish defensive smarts are one of one right now. <\/p>\n MORE: WNBA Awards: How SI\u2019s Voters Picked MVP, Defensive Player of the Year and More<\/a><\/p>\n They are the first billion-dollar franchise in women\u2019s sports<\/p>\n What the Valkyries lack in franchise longevity, they make up for in money. Boatloads of it.<\/p>\n In 2026, Golden State became the first WNBA team (and first women\u2019s pro sports team) to exceed $100 million in annual revenue, according to Sportico<\/a>. The Valks\u2019 Finals run could additionally push the franchise\u2019s gross revenue past $130 million in a single season.<\/p>\n The Valks\u2014not the Fever, Aces or Liberty\u2014were the first women\u2019s sports franchise to be valued at a billion dollars, and the team continues to sell out its home games at \u201cBallhalla\u201d in its second year of existence.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t count out the bench!<\/p>\n Depth, depth, depth. <\/p>\n Outside of Williams, the Valkyries don\u2019t really have a lot of go-to scorers. But during their semifinal series sweep of the Aces, they proved they don\u2019t need an automatic No. 2 or No. 3 option. Someone will rise to the challenge. In Game 1\u2019s win, Williams scored a team-high 25 points; in Game 2, Tiffany \u201cTip\u201d Hayes led the team with 21; in Game 3, Kayla Thornton stepped up as leading scorer with 18, good for her second-highest playoff career total since her run with the Wings in 2022.<\/p>\n The rest of the Valks\u2019 roster is just a bunch of dawgs. Veronica Burton, last season\u2019s Most Improved Player, has extended her unexpected career renaissance into Year 2 with Golden State. Kaitlyn Chen controls the aux <\/a>and maintains the tempo in big games, serving as a double-sided Swiss Army utility player who can get a critical block or sink a clutch three whenever her number is called. <\/p>\n And let\u2019s not forget about Janelle Sala\u00fcn, this year\u2019s unanimous Sixth Player of the Year. The French forward was a starter last year but adjusted to her new bench role in stride, averaging 12.7 points per game (ranked best among WNBA reserves who played at least 20 games). Sala\u00fcn\u2019s compatriot, Aminata Gueye, also enjoyed an emergence of late for making the most of her spare minutes against the Aces:<\/p>\n Aminata Gueye highlights? Aminata Gueye highlights. pic.twitter.com\/qo88VJpqBZ<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Kevin Danna (@KevinDannaPxP) October 5, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n No weak links. Camaraderie and chemistry like no other<\/a>. Their Finals matchup against another close-knit squad, the Dream, could be their toughest test yet.<\/p>\n Basketball sicko Natalie Nakase is ready to win it all<\/p>\n Last but not least, a few words of appreciation for perhaps the savviest coach in women\u2019s basketball right now, Natalie Nakase. The 2025 Coach of the Year may have held a slight edge against the Aces having worked as an assistant on Becky Hammon\u2019s staff for three seasons from 2022 to \u201824, during which they won two WNBA championships.<\/p>\n In their first playoff series against each other, the student eluded the teacher. Nakase\u2019s \u201cstrength in numbers\u201d thwarted Hammon\u2019s once-invincible Big 3, and the more complete team won, fair and square.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was pure joy” <\/p>\n Natalie Nakase addresses the @valkyries<\/a> after everyone, from the bench to the starters, brought the fight in their 3-0 series win over the defending champs. <\/p>\n Next stop: their first WNBA Finals.<\/p>\n 2026 WNBA Playoffs presented by Google Pixel | @madebygoogle<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/M2Vj2FMw3t<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 WNBA (@WNBA) October 10, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Nakase suffered a health scare earlier in the playoffs when she suddenly collapsed<\/a> in Game 3 of the Valks\u2019 first-round series against the Wings. But she popped right back up and coached her team to a historic semifinal berth, and then a historic Finals berth. Only the W\u2019s biggest prize remains, and if anyone can get the most out of her players in big-time moments, it\u2019s Natalie Nakase. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s bittersweet,\u201d Nakase said of beating Hammon and the Aces. \u201c… There\u2019s so many people that I consider family, obviously Becky. She hired me. She\u2019s the one who invited me into the W, the years I spent with her I knew I was going to learn a lot. Her X\u2019s and O\u2019s I think is one of the best in the world, men or women it doesn\u2019t matter. She showed me that if you lead with your heart, your players will run through a wall for you.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/assets.minutemediacdn.com\/platform\/google_discover_icon.svg\"){kind=icon}
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