{"id":880598,"date":"2026-10-13T07:44:13","date_gmt":"2026-10-13T07:44:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/880598\/"},"modified":"2026-10-13T07:44:13","modified_gmt":"2026-10-13T07:44:13","slug":"valkyries-begin-preparation-for-wnba-finals-matchup-against-atlanta-dream","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/880598\/","title":{"rendered":"Valkyries begin preparation for WNBA Finals matchup against Atlanta Dream"},"content":{"rendered":"

OAKLAND \u2014 Most of the Golden State Valkyries<\/a> have never experienced the WNBA Finals.<\/p>\n

Whether on the roster, coaching staff, in the front office or otherwise across the organization \u2013 and certainly for the fans \u2013 the Finals will be a new experience for much of Ballhalla<\/a> after Golden State completed its three-game semifinals sweep<\/a> of the Las Vegas Aces on Friday.<\/p>\n

A weekend of celebration, rest and recovery ended Monday as Golden State reconvened in Oakland to chart a course for its championship series with the Atlanta Dream.<\/p>\n

As they turn the page to the Finals after the watershed victory in Vegas and prepare for Game 1 Saturday afternoon at Chase Center, the second-year Valkyries aren\u2019t entirely bereft of championship experience.<\/p>\n

So the Valkyries are leaning on those who have been there before.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s definitely a different feeling, being in the Finals,\u201d said reserve guard Tiffany Hayes, who was drafted by the Dream in 2012 and made the Finals with Atlanta in 2013. \u201cAt the end of the day, this is another team we\u2019re trying to get past. So I\u2019m just focused on whatever we need to do to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Forward Kayla Thornton is the longest-tenured Valkyries player with recent championship experience, having won the 2024 title with the New York Liberty. She was a bench player on that team and is a key starter for Golden State.<\/p>\n

\"LOS<\/a>LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – SEPTEMBER 24: Kayla Thornton #5 of the Golden State Valkyries reacts to a call during the second quarter against the Los Angeles Sparks at Crypto.com Arena on September 24, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement (Photo by Katelyn Mulcahy\/Getty Images)\u00a0<\/p>\n

Leading an expansion franchise to the Finals is a different challenge.<\/p>\n

For Thornton, who was plucked from New York in the 2025 expansion draft, it\u2019s been a special experience for a team largely comprised of castoffs from other organizations and a few key free agent signings.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of us bounced around. That\u2019s what makes it special,\u201d Thornton said. \u201cWe all have a special story of where we came from, and a lot of us have been told no. A lot of us have been denied.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut when you bring this group together, we create something big, and we\u2019re selfless. We do it for each other because we know what we\u2019ve been through.\u201d<\/p>\n

Point guard Veronica Burton is one of those castoffs, making the WNBA semifinals with the Connecticut Sun and in a reserve role in 2024 and six months later was plucked by the Valkyries in the expansion draft. She understands the magnitude of the stage the Valkyries will be ascending, but she didn\u2019t seem fazed by the challenge.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny chance you get to compete for a championship is a big deal, and we don\u2019t take that lightly,\u201d Burton said. \u201cWe talk about the championship experience and the playoff experience, and where our vets are really pouring into people and setting the tone and what we need to be doing and what our habits look like.\u201d<\/p>\n

Burton singled out Kiah Stokes, who won championships with Las Vegas in 2022, 2023, 2025, as a key voice the Valkyries are leaning on. Stokes, who missed practice Monday for a rest day, was instrumental in neutralizing Aces star A\u2019ja Wilson in Golden State\u2019s semifinal sweep<\/p>\n

\u201cThe cool thing about our team is that everyone has a voice and everyone listens to one another,\u201d Burton said. \u201cAnd their respect is huge, so we really rely on them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase was there for Vegas\u2019 title runs in 2022 and 2023 as an assistant on Becky Hammon\u2019s staff. After knocking the Aces out to reach her first Finals in the head chair, Nakase has shifted her focus to finishing off Golden State\u2019s historic run with a title.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know what\u2019s at stake,\u201d Nakase said. \u201cWe\u2019ve been together for six months. I don\u2019t have to let them know. But for us, it\u2019s the game plan. They love game-planning. They love information. Our players thrive on that, so that\u2019s really cool. We have a lot of days to prepare. When we\u2019re tight with our game plan and we\u2019re focused, we\u2019re really good in terms of executing.\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 Most of the Golden State Valkyries have never experienced the WNBA Finals. Whether on the roster,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":880599,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[402,3805,2356,4804,10831,2558,10836,5284,10838,99,434],"class_list":["post-880598","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-basketball","tag-bay-area","tag-california","tag-golden-state-valkyries","tag-inside-sports","tag-latest-headlines","tag-peninsula","tag-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco-county","tag-sports","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/880598","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=880598"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/880598\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/880599"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=880598"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=880598"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=880598"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}