A Season of Golden Moments in the Bay Area » Winsidr

Immediately after the buzzer sounded and the Golden State Valkyries’ 2025 season came to an end at SAP Center in San Jose, the home crowd gave the team a rousing ovation.

The Valkyries’ last game of the season was played in San Jose instead of Chase Center in San Francisco (their home arena) due to a scheduling conflict, but the energy and intensity of the environment felt no different despite the venue change.

The end-of-season ovation from the crowd was an acknowledgement of what the Valkyries gave to the region: excitement for the future. This was an opening act that the audience in the Bay will not forget anytime soon.

And what an inaugural season it was. Golden State ended the regular season with a 23-21 record and made the playoffs as an expansion team, finishing with the eighth seed. The team ultimately lost in the opening round of the playoffs; the Valkyries lost to the top-seeded Minnesota Lynx via a 2-0 sweep, which included a Game Two defeat after having a 17-point lead in the game.

The Valkyries were the surprise team of the season, exceeding outside expectations that they would be among the worst teams in the league, come nowhere close to the playoffs, and be destined for the next draft lottery. They surpassed those expectations, while also navigating through player absences either due to EuroBasket competition or injuries; despite multiple starting lineups and overall rotation changes, Golden State kept competing and stayed afloat.

The season also saw Golden State receive a handful of accolades and honors. The Valkyries’ head coach, Natalie Nakase, won Coach of the Year. Kayla Thornton was named an All-Star: the first All-Star selection in franchise history. Veronica Burton not only won the Most Improved Player award, but also was named to the WNBA All-Defensive Second Team. Janelle Salaün was named to the All-Rookie Team.

Ballhalla by the Numbers 📈

⚔️ | 1⃣st @WNBA expansion team to make the playoffs in their inaugural season⚔️ | 2⃣3⃣ wins (most by an expansion team in WNBA history)⚔️ | 2⃣3⃣ sold-out games⚔️ | 1⃣ Most Improved Player⚔️ | 1⃣ Coach of the Year⚔️ | 1⃣ WNBA All-Star⚔️ | 1⃣ AP…

— Golden State Valkyries (@valkyries) September 19, 2025

A rookie season for the books — and her story is just beginning.

Janelle Salaün: All-Rookie Team, Valks’ three-point leader, second in points. pic.twitter.com/POfTa3ehAC

— Golden State Valkyries (@valkyries) October 7, 2025

In the regular season, they averaged 77.7 PPG (finished 10th in the league), 40.7 percent from the field (last), 32.5 percent from three-point range (11th), and had 45.8 percent of their shot attempts come from three-point range (led the league). Despite their streakiness on offense, they made up for it with strong defense; they averaged the fewest allowed points in the league at 76.3 PPG.

Valkyries before the All-Star break: 10-12 record, 79.1 PPG, 40.2 percent from the field, 30.7 percent from three-point range (12th in the league), allowed 78.0 PPG

Valkyries after the All-Star break: 13-9 record, 76.3 PPG, 41.2 percent from the field, 34.3 percent from three-point range (seventh in the league), allowed 74.6 PPG

Thornton averaged 14.0 PPG and 7.0 RPG during the season. Meanwhile, Burton averaged 11.9 PPG, 6.0 APG, and 4.4 RPG. These two players were selected by the Valkyries in the expansion draft last offseason and proved to be the two most impactful players for the Bay Area’s new WNBA team with their breakout 2025 performances. Thornton was the team’s MVP during the first half of the season, and Burton was the team’s MVP for the second half.

Tiffany Hayes was not an expansion draft selection, but a big free agent acquisition in the offseason. She averaged 11.7 PPG, 3.8 RPG, and 3.0 APG, and was arguably the third most important player for the Valkyries in 2025.

Also, Cecilia Zandalasini played the best basketball of her WNBA career with the Valkyries, solidifying herself as a reliable rotation player. She averaged 10.5 PPG, 2.9 RPG, and 1.7 APG for Golden State.

The season also featured amazing moments and stretches from players such as Iliana Rupert, Kate Martin, and Laeticia Amihere: young players that did not get much of an opportunity to shine at their previous stops in the league.

Struggles/Areas to Build On

While there was so much to be excited about with Golden State, there are still areas that the team will seek to improve upon to try and have a more successful second year in the league.

Per Her Hoop Stats, the Valkyries set the all-time record for the most three-point shot attempts in a regular season (1,314), and had the second-most made three-pointers in league history with 427 (behind the 2023 New York Liberty with 444). But, despite how many threes they attempted and made, the Valkyries still shot under 33 percent during the regular season. The three-point shooting percentage improved during the second half of the season, but if they seek to win more games as a heavy three-point shooting team, they have to shoot more efficiently from beyond the arc over the course of a whole season.

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There were also games during the season when Golden State’s frontcourt was not consistently effective enough in putting pressure on opposing teams. Whether it was due to unfavorable size mismatches or being out-produced by other frontcourts, the Valkyries’ frontcourt was not able to play its best at certain times.And, there were lots of missed games by players due to injuries. Players such as Thornton, Hayes, Zandalasini, Monique Billings, and Carla Leite each fell victim to the injury bug at some point during the season. Thornton only played 22 games, as she missed the entire second half of the season due to a right knee injury. Hayes only played 26 games in the regular season and missed the playoff series against the Lynx due to a left knee injury. Billings and Zandalasini only played 26 and 19 regular-season games, respectively. Burton was the only player to play in all of Golden State’s 46 games (regular season and playoffs) this year.

The absences of both Thornton and Hayes were certainly felt by the Valkyries during their playoff series, especially at the end of their Game Two loss to the Lynx, as shot creation and drives to the basket proved to be late-game struggles that hurt them.

Looking at the Future

There is a cloud of uncertainty that currently exists in the league. With the state of CBA negotiations, on top of an offseason with the upcoming draft and free agency, a lot is up in the air. For Golden State, what will the immediate future look like?

Two of their rookies, Salaün and Leite, were key rotation players for the team during the season. How will they continue to develop as players in the league? Can Salaün become an even more impactful offensive player, based on her scoring and rebounding capabilities? Is Leite able to play with more consistency, especially with her three-point shooting?

How can the team get more consistency from the frontcourt and make it a more reliable unit? Rupert was among the best three-point shooters (shooting at 44.2 percent) during the 21 regular-season games she played for Golden State. Billings and Temi Fágbénlé did not provide the three-point shooting that Rupert did, but they both had plenty of good moments as interior presences. What will the frontcourt production look like?

The Valkyries are still waiting on the arrival of Justė Jocytė, who was their first-round pick from this past offseason and did not play in the league this season. How will she fare in her first WNBA season? The team still has its own first-round pick for the upcoming 2026 draft.

Who will the Valkyries protect in the upcoming expansion draft? And, did they do enough to present themselves as an attractive market and organization for free agents to consider?

Also, the organization is committed to the goal of winning a championship within the first five years of play. Well,… one season down, four more to go to try and achieve that mission.

The Valkyries have just gotten started, and there is still more work for them to do in order to reach the top of the WNBA summit and capture a championship. But, they have already left an impactful mark on the league, and the other incoming expansion teams have taken notice, especially the Toronto Tempo and Portland Fire (slated to begin play in 2026).

The 2025 season was a memorable one for Golden State. The success of the team was a reminder of this reality: WNBA basketball is finally in the Bay Area, and it is not going anywhere anytime soon.

Stats as of November 3. Unless otherwise noted, stats courtesy of WNBA.com.