Valkyries' title run set records and gave coach Natalie Nakase her first championship as a head coach

SAN FRANCISCO - The Golden State Valkyries won the 2026 WNBA championship in just their second season, the fastest any expansion team in the five major North American pro leagues has won a title since 1967, the team said, citing the Elias Sports Bureau.  An expansion team is a brand-new team added to a league.

When the league awarded the Bay Area its team on Oct. 5, 2023, owner Joe Lacob promised it would win a championship within its first five years of play, the WNBA posted that day.  It took two.

The coach

Coach Natalie Nakase grew up in Los Angeles and walked on to the UCLA women's basketball team, earning a starting spot and serving as captain for three seasons, according to the team.  After college, she played two years in a women's pro league for the San Jose Spiders and the San Diego Siege.

A knee injury ended her playing career in Germany in 2008, the team said.  She started coaching there, then became the first woman to be head coach in Japan's men's pro league.  She spent 10 seasons with the NBA's Los Angeles Clippers and three as the top assistant for the Las Vegas Aces, who won titles in 2022 and 2023.

This is her third championship and her first as a head coach, the team said.

The players

Gabby Williams, the Finals MVP, was the first All-Star starter in team history and made the league's All-Defensive First Team, the team said.  She scored in double figures in every Finals game but one, including 26 points in Game 6 and 30 in Game 7.

Kiah Stokes blocked 19 shots in the Finals, a record.  The old mark was 12, the team said.  She now has four titles, three with Las Vegas and one with Golden State.  That ties her for the second-most in league history.

Tiffany Hayes played her first 10 seasons in Atlanta, including the 2013 Finals, and won her first title against her old team, according to the team.  She moved into the starting lineup in Game 4.

Janelle Salaün was the league's unanimous Sixth Player of the Year, its top player off the bench.  Burton and Stokes made the All-Defensive Second Team.

Coming from behind

In the first round, the Valkyries came back from 16 points down in the second half to beat Dallas 77-73 for the first playoff series win in team history.  They swept the defending champion Aces, 3-0.  In the Finals, they trailed Atlanta two games to one after a 26-point loss, then won two straight.

They are the first team to win a WNBA title without an All-WNBA player, the team said.

Source:  Golden State Valkyries championship release; Valkyries Game 7 recap; Valkyries: Natalie Nakase named head coach, Oct. 10, 2024; WNBA on X, Oct. 5, 2023; Valkyries recaps of the first round, Game 3, Finals Game 3, Game 4 and Game 6; Finals preview.