Castoffs and comebacks: the Valkyries climbed out of several holes on the way to the WNBA title

SAN FRANCISCO - After a 26-point loss in Atlanta left the Golden State Valkyries down two games to one in the WNBA Finals, coach Natalie Nakase took the blame and made a promise.  "We're resilient, we've done it before," Nakase said in the postgame news conference the team posted on Oct. 22.

Ten days later the Valkyries were champions, the team said.  For a roster built largely from players other teams had let go, coming back was a habit.

Left unprotected

In the December 2024 expansion draft, each of the league's 12 other teams could protect up to six players.  Golden State chose 11 players from those left over, the league said.

Guard Veronica Burton was one.  She started one game and averaged 3.1 points for Connecticut in 2024, the team said.  In 2025 she started all 44 games, averaged 11.9 points and was named Most Improved Player.  "To go from getting cut last year to being the most improved this year is remarkable," teammate Kate Martin said in a team article.  In Game 7, Burton made the final two free throws.

Others came by choice.  Center Kiah Stokes, who had won titles in Las Vegas, signed with an expansion team.  "I took a leap leaving Vegas to come here.  I was comfortable there," Stokes said after Game 7.  She blocked 19 shots in the Finals, a record, the team said.

"This is on me"

Game 3 on Oct. 21 was the low point.  The Valkyries missed their first eight shots and lost 97-71, according to the team's recap.  "It was very uncharacteristic of us," said guard Tiffany Hayes, who played her first 10 seasons for Atlanta.

Nakase called the play "undisciplined" and said "this is on me."  She pointed to earlier rallies, including a comeback from 16 points down in the second half at Dallas in the first round.  "We know how to come back," she said.  "We usually come back even tighter."

Golden State won Games 4 and 5.  In Game 4, Stokes said, the team wanted "to just make sure that we were the aggressors."

Game 6 in Atlanta brought a new hole.  The Dream scored 32 points in the first quarter and led by as many as 25, the team said.  The Valkyries outscored Atlanta 43-34 after halftime but lost 80-69.  "That's unacceptable on our end," Burton said afterward of the first quarter, in video the team posted.

Patience in Game 7

In Game 7 at Chase Center, Golden State trailed by six at halftime, and forward Gabby Williams had two points, the team said.  "Nat told me to stay patient," Williams said later.  "I trusted her."

Williams scored 28 points in the second half, more than any player in a second half in WNBA Finals history, and finished with 30, the team said.  With the score tied at 55 and under three minutes left, she hit a three-pointer and two free throws in a 7-0 run.  Golden State won 68-63, and she was named Finals MVP.

Williams, an All-Star who signed with the team in April, said she wanted to "focus on the people who just believed in me this whole time."  The team, she said, "kept our circles so tight to shut out the outside noise."

Source:  Valkyries Game 3 news conference video, Oct. 22, 2026; Valkyries Game 3 recap; Game 4 recap; Game 6 recap; Valkyries Game 6 news conference video; Game 7 recap; Valkyries Game 7 news conference video; WNBA expansion draft release, Dec. 6, 2024; Valkyries on Burton; Valkyries championship release; Valkyries first-round Game 3 recap.