I can’t claim San Francisco as my own, but it will always hold a special place in my heart.
My dad grew up in Concord, CA, about half an hour northeast of Oakland. He and my mom raised me in Boston, so it was hard to get out to California to see family frequently, but once every four years we would spend Christmas in Concord.
I was actually born in Sacramento before moving to the East Coast before age 2. My half-siblings grew up in Davis, a suburb of Sacramento. Both of them have spent time living in Berkeley, with my brother living there currently and my sister doing so while attending grad school at Cal.
I love Berkeley as a city; I might have applied to Cal had it been closer to home. I especially love it now that my two little nephews, my favorite people to visit, are growing up there.
So, naturally, I’m rooting for the Golden State Valkyries. I also used to root for the Sacramento Monarchs, another Northern California team that donned purple.
I can’t wait to go to a game at Ballhalla and experience in person the electricity we’ve all witnessed since Golden State’s inaugural preseason game a little over a year ago.
Gabby Williams. (Photo by Dylan Goodman) NBAE via Getty Images
While my top two teams are still the Washington Mystics and Connectictu Sun, and while I tend to root for Maryland Terrapins, as well as for players and teams to end championship droughts, there’s no doubt that I’m pulling for the Valkyries to become championship contenders.
Against most teams, I’ll be rooting for them to win it all.
The Valks (10-7) are coming off their worst game of the season and face a tough stretch ahead. Over their next four, they play the 12-4 Atlanta Dream three times and the 12-6 New York Liberty once, starting with a date with Atlanta at Ballhalla Wednesday night at 10 p.m. ET (USA Network/CNBC).
It will be tough for them to remain in the contender conversation in the short term, but it’s a long season, and before this difficult stretch, they were looking really good with a four-game win streak.
Even before that streak, our Eric Nemchock was writing about how the team that shocked the world by making the playoffs in their inaugural season had turned the dial up a notch.
Wins and losses aside, the Valkyries seem to have developed a championship swagger.
The positive vibes that came from the fans last year fueled them to accomplish something special. I talk a lot about certain teams having a mystique, and the Valks definitely have one. Add in the confidence of having defied expectations last year and this team becomes really dangerous.
I’ve got plenty of reason to root for them regardless of who is on the team, but it just so happens that their best returning player from last year, Veronica Burton, is from the Boston area and went to a high school that is in the same athletic conference as the high school I attended.
They also have a decorated former Terp in Kaila Charles. She is the program’s sixth-all-time leading scorer who was a senior in 2019-20, my first season back at Swish Appeal and covering Maryland women’s basketball after a hiatus.
I loved the offseason addition of Gabby Williams, which teamed up the Backcourt Burglar (Burton) with one of the best defenders in the world in Williams. Janelle Salaün, a 24-year-old in her second season, has the makings of a big-time scorer; she’s currently fourth in the W with 2.6 triples per contest.
Meanwhile, it’s easy to cheer for the hustle of Kayla Thornton, the audacity of Tiffany Hayes, the sacrifice of Kiah Stokes and the sweet 3-point stroke of Cecilia Zandalasini. Then there’s fan-favorite Kaitlyn Chen, who started her college career at mid-major Princeton and went in the third round of the 2025 WNBA Draft, yet appears to have a bright WNBA future ahead of her despite her underdog beginnings.
Head coach Natalie Nakase, the reigning WNBA Coach of the Year, embodies the team’s mystique with her ability to rally this group to come together and achieve success on the floor.
On trips to San Francisco as a kid, my parents introduced me to Ghirardelli chocolate, See’s Candies, Pier 39 and, of course, the Golden Gate Bridge. I grew up watching my dad cheer for the MLB’s San Francisco Giants and NFL’s San Francisco 49ers, and over the summer of 2001 went to a Giants game at then-Pac Bell Park and witnessed Robb Nen record a one-pitch win. When my dad passed away in 2024, my family and I spread some of his ashes at Point Reyes, one of his favorite places to visit, just north of San Francisco.
Point Reyes in Marin County, CA. (Photo courtesy of Zack Ward)
The Bay Area is in my blood, and I’m proud of that. It’s always been a fascinating place to visit, and now they have another sports team that does the greatness of the area justice.
It was never guaranteed to play out like that; it took a lot of hard work from the people who built the Valkyries, along with the fan base. Now, it’s a great storyline to follow, and I look forward to continuing to write about the women’s basketball culture that is building in the Bay.