SAN FRANCISCO (AP) \u2014 WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert will never forget the anticipation and energy she felt from an adoring\u2026<\/p>\n
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) \u2014 WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert will never forget the anticipation and energy she felt from an adoring crowd surrounding the Golden State Valkyries\u2019 first home game last year as a new franchise.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was the Valkyries\u2019 first game ever, and somehow it felt like this arena was filled with lifelong fans who had been following this league for 30 years,\u201d Engelbert recalled. \u201cIt was the true sense that the team already belonged here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now, Engelbert is bringing the WNBA All-Star Game to the Bay Area and \u201cBallhalla\u201d next summer so all of women\u2019s basketball can experience what she did that night in May 2025.<\/p>\n
Engelbert made the announcement Tuesday that the WNBA showcase game will be held July 31, 2027, at Chase Center after a weekend of All-Star activities around the San Francisco region.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember looking around that night and thinking to myself, \u2018This place is going to be special,\u2019 and in less than two seasons the Valkyries family has proven just how special it can be,\u201d Engelbert said. \u201cThe Bay Area community hasn\u2019t simply welcomed the Valkyries, this community has embraced the Valks as their team.\u201d<\/p>\n
And Golden State has waited for this moment all along. For Warriors and Valkyries owner Joe Lacob, this is decades in the making since he first began supporting women\u2019s basketball.<\/p>\n
Lacob has loved women\u2019s basketball for decades and became one of the original investors in the former American Basketball League with the San Jose Lasers. He bought the Warriors in 2010 then Golden State was granted an expansion team in October 2023<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is actually a great honor to be hosting the All-Star Game. All I will say for all of us at Golden State but me in particular, it is a full-circle moment, well it will be full circle when we win the championship,\u201d Lacob said. <\/p>\n At the All-Star Game in Chicago last month, players\u2019 union president Nneka Ogwumike, who played in college at Stanford, said many players felt that Golden State would be a great host for next year\u2019s mid-summer exhibition game.<\/p>\n Warriors coach Steve Kerr and guard Gary Payton II were among those in the audience for the announcement at Chase Center, where a cable car was set up inside the arena for the occasion.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you walk into this building for a Valkyries game, it is unlike any experience,\u201d San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie said.<\/p>\n Hosting world-class events was always in the plans since long before Chase Center opened in 2019. The Valkyries have sold out all of their home games since the franchise\u2019s inception last year \u2014 and the team became the first expansion organization to make the playoffs in its inaugural year. Golden State lost to the top-seeded Minnesota Lynx.<\/a> The Valkyries clinched a playoff berth for this year on Monday night with a win over Dallas<\/a>.<\/p>\n The NBA All-Star Game was played at Chase Center last year. <\/p>\n \u201cHosting AT&T WNBA All-Star in only our third season is an incredible honor and a reflection of everything this fanbase, this region, and this organization have built together,\u201d Valkyries President Jess Smith said. \u201cFrom day one, the Bay Area has shown up for this team in a way that\u2019s redefined what\u2019s possible in women\u2019s basketball, and we can\u2019t wait to put that same energy on display for the entire league next summer.\u201d<\/p>\n