Valkyries begin quest for WNBA championship in just their second year — SkimNews
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- Golden State Valkyries host the Atlanta Dream in Game 1 of the WNBA Finals at San Francisco's Chase Center on Saturday, live on Sky Sports Mix and Sky Sports+ from 8:30pm, with both franchises chasing their first WNBA championship.
- Valkyries become the first WNBA expansion team to reach the Finals in only their second season, after also becoming the first to make the playoffs in their inaugural 2025 campaign.
- Golden State finished the 2026 regular season 32-12 and went 3-0 against Atlanta this year, including an 88-83 win on July 4, before knocking out defending champion Las Vegas Aces in the semi-finals.
- Atlanta are making their first Finals appearance since 2013, having lost all three prior trips in 2010, 2011 and 2013.
- Owner Joe Lacob promised a championship within five years when the franchise began, and now in Year 2 the Valkyries are playing for one in front of a violet-crazed sell-out crowd at their 'Ballhalla' home.
- Coach Natalie Nakase, hired in October 2024 as the Valkyries' first head coach, has built a roster of understated talent including undrafted All-Star Kayla Thornton, former Dallas castoff Veronica Burton, and Gabby Williams.
- Williams said the team's edge comes from being overlooked: 'We know we weren't a team that was talked about, but just the culture and going to work every day.'
Why it matters: An expansion franchise making the Finals in just its second year — after winning a playoff series in its first — shatters the WNBA's expansion timeline, where Lacob's five-year promise is already being tested in Year 2. Atlanta, meanwhile, faces a 13-year hangover from three straight Finals losses (2010, 2011, 2013), with a roster that went 0-3 against Golden State this season.
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