{"id":891938,"date":"2026-10-23T12:26:13","date_gmt":"2026-10-23T12:26:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/891938\/"},"modified":"2026-10-23T12:26:13","modified_gmt":"2026-10-23T12:26:13","slug":"the-valkyries-are-at-risk-of-repeating-the-aces-aja-wilson-mistake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/891938\/","title":{"rendered":"The Valkyries are at risk of repeating the Aces’ A’ja Wilson mistake"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Golden State Valkyries are three games<\/a> into the franchise’s first-ever WNBA Finals run. They’ve done this in only their second year of existence; that’s the kind of story that sounds made up until you see it in real life. In a lot of ways, the Valkyries have already won as much as they need to this season. But, like any sports team in the history of professional sports, they want more.<\/p>\n

And they should. The idea of winning the WNBA Championship is tantalizing; pulling off something like what the Valkyries are focused on is unheard of.<\/p>\n

But if the team isn’t careful, they’re going to end up falling into the same trap the Las Vegas Aces so often do.<\/p>\n

It’s not always helpful or justified to bring up one team when writing about another, but in this case, the two teams share a trait they need to work on: when the going gets tough, they tend to heap responsibility for a win on one player. For the Aces, that player is Wilson.<\/p>\n

It’s clear why: A’ja Wilson is the best player in the league. She actually is capable of winning whole games by herself, but it comes at a mental and physical cost; relying on the enormous skill of one player is also not a good strategy in the long term. Wilson may be the best, but the entire Aces roster is stacked. The team gets its best wins when it plays as one.<\/p>\n

The same is true of the Valkyries, who have been putting a lot of pressure on Gabby Williams. Like Wilson, it’s understandable: Williams seems built for it. But she’s still one person, and the Valkyries also play their best basketball when they play together, and tap into one another’s strengths. <\/p>\n

We didn’t see that in Game 3 of the team’s series<\/a> with the Atlanta Dream. Williams led the team in scoring for the fifth time (out of nine games). That’s cool, but it’s also dangerous: the Valkyries are known for shooting. Natalie Nakase loves to prioritize shooters. Golden State knows how to get the ball in the basket; Williams knows how to get the ball in the basket, but she can’t do it alone.<\/p>\n

The Valkyries knocked the Aces, who came into the 2026 WNBA Playoffs as the defending champions, out of contention in part because they played seamlessly. If they want to stand a chance in the face of a mighty Atlanta Dream, they need to find a way to do that again. <\/p>\n

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