Golden State Valkyries Overview
The Golden State Valkyries are an American professional basketball team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The Valkyries compete in the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Western Conference and began play in the 2025 season. Their home games are held at Chase Center in San Francisco, while their practice facility and front office are located in Oakland. The team is owned by Joe Lacob and Peter Guber, with Jess Smith serving as president, Ohemaa Nyanin as general manager, and Natalie Nakase as the first head coach in franchise history.
The Valkyries play under team colors of violet, gold, black, and white, and their official nickname is GSV Valks. Their mascot is Violet the raven. As the first WNBA expansion team since the Atlanta Dream in 2008, the Valkyries quickly established a competitive identity, securing a playoff berth in their inaugural season and earning widespread league recognition. The nickname Chase Center takes on during Valkyries games is Ballhalla, a reference to Valhalla in Norse mythology, where Valkyries bring select fallen warriors.
Founding and Organizational Origins
The path toward the Golden State Valkyries began on September 26, 2023, when The Athletic reported that Joe Lacob and Peter Guber, the owners of the NBA’s Golden State Warriors, were finalizing an agreement to start a WNBA expansion team in San Francisco. Lacob had a long history in women’s professional basketball, having previously helped found the American Basketball League (ABL) and owning one of its teams, the San Jose Lasers. The ABL folded in 1998, and the Lasers were the last San Francisco Bay Area women’s professional basketball team prior to the Valkyries.
On October 5, 2023, the expansion team was officially announced, with plans to begin play in 2025. The expansion fee for the franchise was reported to be $50 million over 10 years, and early reports indicated that the team’s name would include Golden State. Within the first few hours of being announced, over 2,000 season ticket deposits were placed, signaling strong regional demand for a women’s professional basketball team in the Bay Area.
The team’s name, Golden State Valkyries, along with its logos, was revealed on May 14, 2024. The primary logo features the Bay Bridge, symbolizing the connection between San Francisco and Oakland, with the cables doubling as wings and the tower doubling as a sword. The thirteen lines from the sword represent the Valkyries as the thirteenth team in the league, while the wings split the space into five triangles to represent the ten players on the court. The outer shape forms a V to represent the Valkyries.
Growth Into WNBA Competition
The Valkyries assembled their early front office in early 2024, beginning with the hiring of Jess Smith as president on January 30, 2024. Smith joined the organization from Angel City FC of the NWSL, bringing experience in launching and scaling women’s professional sports franchises. On April 16, 2024, the team surpassed 6,000 season ticket deposits, reflecting sustained fan interest ahead of the inaugural season.
Ohemaa Nyanin was announced as general manager on May 7, 2024, providing the franchise with a key decision-maker for roster construction. A WNBA expansion draft occurred in early December 2024, allowing Golden State to build its initial roster, and the team participated in its first WNBA draft in April 2025. The Valkyries also revealed their mascot, Violet the raven, on August 11, 2025, at Chase Center during halftime, completing the team’s public identity.
On October 10, 2024, the Valkyries hired Natalie Nakase as the first head coach in franchise history. Nakase was joined on the bench by assistant coaches Kasib Powell, Sugar Rodgers, and Landon Tatum, forming the opening coaching staff that would guide the team into its first WNBA season.
Golden State Valkyries Competitive Journey
The Golden State Valkyries’ competitive journey began in 2025 with their first WNBA season. Built from former sixth women and role players, international standouts, and young rookies, the team defied expectations and rejected comparisons to past expansion franchises, using early doubt as motivation throughout the year.
Early Seasons and Development (2025)
The Valkyries made their WNBA debut on May 16, 2025, falling 84–76 to the Los Angeles Sparks. The team secured its first-ever regular season win just five days later on May 21, 2025, defeating the Washington Mystics 76–74. Golden State finished May with a 2–3 record and carried strong form into June, posting a 7–4 mark to establish itself as a competitive expansion side.
July opened with difficulties, as the Valkyries managed only one win before the All-Star break, an 80–61 victory over the Indiana Fever, entering the break at 1–5 for the month. On July 25, 2025, the team announced that star forward Kayla Thornton would miss the remainder of the season due to a right knee injury suffered in practice. Despite the setback, Golden State closed July with a 3–1 run, maintaining momentum into the closing stretch of the regular season.
Breakthrough in WNBA (2025)
August marked the clearest turning point of the Valkyries’ debut season. On August 13, 2025, Veronica Burton became the first player in franchise history to score 30 points in a game during an 88–83 win over the Mystics. Three days later, Golden State set a WNBA record for most wins by an expansion team in its inaugural season, earning an 18th victory with a 90–59 triumph over the Chicago Sky, surpassing the 1998 Detroit Shock. On August 30, 2025, the Valkyries recorded a franchise-high 37-point win, defeating the Mystics 99–62 with contributions from Janelle Salaün, who scored 20 points, and Carla Leite, who added 19 points off the bench. The team finished August with an 8–5 record.
The Valkyries made further history on September 4, 2025, becoming the first expansion franchise to reach the WNBA playoffs in its inaugural season following an 84–80 win over the Dallas Wings. Three days later, the franchise announced it had sold out all 22 home games at Chase Center, setting records in both total attendance, 397,408, and average attendance, 18,604, for the regular season. Golden State concluded the regular season with a 23–21 record, earning the eighth seed and a first-round matchup against the top-seeded Minnesota Lynx. In Game 1, the Valkyries opened with a double-digit lead but ultimately fell 101–72 after the Lynx took control in the second quarter. Their season ended in Game 2 with a narrow 75–74 loss, as Minnesota overcame a 17-point deficit and Cecilia Zandalasini missed a buzzer-beater that would have forced a Game 3.
Modern Program and Current Direction (2025–Present)
The Valkyries’ modern program is anchored by a leadership group of Joe Lacob and Peter Guber as owners, Jess Smith as president, Ohemaa Nyanin as general manager, and Natalie Nakase as head coach, with assistant coaches Kasib Powell, Sugar Rodgers, and Landon Tatum supporting the bench. The team plays its home games at Chase Center in San Francisco and operates its practice facility and front office in Oakland, creating a Bay Area footprint that spans both sides of the Bay Bridge.
The roster for the 2025 season blended former sixth women and role players, international standouts, and young rookies, a construction approach that produced immediate competitiveness. The Valkyries set league records for expansion-team wins and for total and average home attendance in an inaugural season, establishing a strong commercial and fan base foundation for the years ahead.
Philosophy and Competitive Strengths
The Valkyries built their identity on resilience and collective effort, using early doubt as motivation and rejecting comparisons to past expansion teams. The team excelled at home, selling out all 22 games at Chase Center, and showcased individual standouts such as Veronica Burton, Janelle Salaün, and Carla Leite in pivotal wins throughout the season.
Key Milestones and Major Moments
The Valkyries’ most significant milestones include becoming the first expansion team since 2008 when play began in 2025, the first regular-season win over the Washington Mystics on May 21, 2025, the record 18th win over the Chicago Sky, the first expansion playoff berth on September 4, 2025, and the sold-out home slate of 22 games with record total and average attendance. Their inaugural playoff run ended in a hard-fought two-game series with the Minnesota Lynx, capped by a one-point loss in Game 2.
Golden State Valkyries Achievements and Results
The Golden State Valkyries’ 2025 inaugural season produced a series of verified accomplishments, including a playoff berth, an expansion-team wins record, league-leading attendance figures, and individual awards for head coach Natalie Nakase, guard Veronica Burton, and president Jess Smith. The franchise set a new standard for first-year WNBA expansion clubs on and off the court.
WNBA Achievements
The Valkyries finished the 2025 regular season with a 23–21 record, earning the eighth seed and a first-round matchup against the top-seeded Minnesota Lynx. They set a WNBA record for most wins by an expansion team in an inaugural season, surpassing the 1998 Detroit Shock with 18 wins, and became the first expansion franchise to reach the WNBA playoffs in its inaugural season. The team also set a franchise-high margin of victory in a 37-point win over the Washington Mystics on August 30, 2025.
Golden State set league attendance records in its inaugural season, selling out all 22 home games at Chase Center and totaling 397,408 fans for an average of 18,604 per game, the highest figures for an expansion team. Head coach Natalie Nakase was named the WNBA Coach of the Year, receiving 53 of 72 votes, while Veronica Burton earned the WNBA Most Improved Player award and WNBA All-Defensive Second Team honors. Janelle Salaün was selected to the WNBA All-Rookie Team, and Tiffany Hayes received the WNBA Cares Community Assist Award.
Conference Achievements
As a Western Conference member, the Valkyries earned the eighth seed in 2025 and reached the conference playoffs in their first year of existence, a notable achievement for an expansion franchise. The team recorded signature wins over Western opponents throughout the season, including victories over the Los Angeles Sparks, the Dallas Wings, and the Chicago Sky, building a foundation for sustained conference competitiveness.
Series Achievements
The Valkyries’ most significant series of the 2025 season was their first-round playoff matchup against the Minnesota Lynx. Golden State pushed the top-seeded Lynx to two games, falling 101–72 in Game 1 after surrendering a double-digit lead, and losing 75–74 in Game 2 when Minnesota overcame a 17-point deficit and a potential game-tying buzzer-beater by Cecilia Zandalasini fell short. The series cemented the Valkyries’ reputation as a competitive expansion side capable of challenging the league’s top teams.