Golden State Valkyries

{{Short description|Women's National Basketball Association team in San Francisco, California}}

{{Infobox basketball club

| name = Golden State Valkyries

| current = 2025 Golden State Valkyries season

| logo = Golden State Valkyries logo.png

| image_size = 200px

| nickname =

| league = WNBA

| conference = Western

| founded = 2025

| history = Golden State Valkyries
2025–present

| arena = Chase Center

| capacity =

| location = San Francisco, California

| colors = Violet, gold, black, white{{cite press release|title=Golden State Valkyries Unveil Brand Identity|url=https://valkyries.com/news/golden-state-valkyries-unveiling-20240514/|publisher=WNBA Media Ventures, LLC|website=Valkyries.com|date=May 14, 2024|access-date=May 15, 2024}}{{cite news|title=Valkyries Unveil Secondary Logos|url=https://valkyries.wnba.com/news/valkyries-secondary-logo-20241208|publisher=WNBA Media Ventures, LLC|website=Valkyries.com|date=December 8, 2024|access-date=December 13, 2024|quote=The Valkyrie Figure incorporates gold, the team’s secondary color, with golden armor creating a regal, statuesque look. The Valkyrie Violet in the cape ties back to the team’s core color, unifying the design.}}{{cite web|title=Golden State Valkyries Reproduction Guideline Sheet|url=https://cdn-assets-us.frontify.com/s3/frontify-enterprise-files-us/eyJwYXRoIjoibmJhXC9maWxlXC9CQjNzVWRzZVh0UG85MTF2TTRhNi5wZGYifQ:nba:vV66rywVDcNiIj1OFsZSCjreLeF4arYR4AsN6OEWt8Q|publisher=WNBA Enterprises, LLC|access-date=March 1, 2025}}
{{color box|#B896D4}} {{color box|#B9975B}} {{color box|#000000}} {{color box|#FFFFFF}}

| sponsor =

| media =

| president = Jess Smith

| chairman =

| vice-presidents =

| gm = Ohemaa Nyanin

| manager =

| coach = Natalie Nakase

| assistants = Kasib Powell
Sugar Rodgers
Landon Tatum

| captain =

| ownership = Joe Lacob
Peter Guber

| championships =

| conf_champs =

| website = https://valkyries.com/

| 1_title =

| 1_body =

| 1_pattern_b =

| 1_shorts =

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The Golden State Valkyries are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Valkyries compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Western Conference. The team began play in the 2025 season. The Valkyries play their home games at Chase Center in San Francisco, while being headquartered in Oakland.{{Cite web |date=October 5, 2023 |title=WNBA expansion team awarded to Bay Area, will begin play in 2025 |url=https://www.nba.com/news/wnba-expansion-team-bay-area-2025 |publisher=National Basketball Association}}

History

The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), which started in 1997, previously had a team in northern California in the Sacramento Monarchs, which played from 1997 until folding in 2009, despite winning a league championship in 2005.{{Cite web|url=https://www.espn.com/wnba/story/_/id/38574635/wnba-expansion-golden-state-warriors-everything-know|publisher=ESPN|title=What to know about the Warriors' WNBA expansion franchise|date=October 5, 2023}} After the Monarchs ended, the WNBA remained steady with 12 teams, although there was often talk of expanding the league.

On September 26, 2023, The Athletic reported that the owners of the NBA's Golden State Warriors, Joe Lacob and Peter Guber, were finalizing an agreement to start a WNBA expansion team in San Francisco.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/4902855/2023/09/26/warriors-wnba-bay-area/|website=The Athletic|title=Warriors finalizing agreement to bring WNBA team to Bay Area: Sources|date=September 26, 2023|author=Thompson II, Marcus}} Lacob had previously helped found the American Basketball League (ABL), which played before the WNBA, and owned one of their 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.

On October 5, 2023, the expansion team was officially announced, with plans to begin play in 2025, being the first expansion team in the WNBA since the Atlanta Dream in 2008.{{Cite web|title=WNBA Expansion Team Awarded in Bay Area To Golden State Warriors To Begin Play in 2025|url=https://www.wnba.com/news/bay-area-expansion-team-2025|website=WNBA.com|date=October 5, 2023}}{{Cite web|title=Golden State Warriors Awarded WNBA Expansion Franchise|url=https://valkyries.com/news/golden-state-warriors-awarded-wnba-expansion-franchise-20231005/|website=valkyries.com|date=October 5, 2023}}{{Cite web|url=https://apnews.com/article/golden-state-wnba-expansion-franchise-warriors-ef65eb9d90d36595f87468f0647c1980|work=Associated Press News|title=Golden State Warriors granted WNBA expansion franchise to begin play in 2025|date=October 5, 2023|author=McCauley, Janie}}{{Cite web |last=Shelburne |first=Ramona |author-link=Ramona Shelburne |date=October 5, 2023 |title=WNBA announces Bay Area expansion team to begin play in 2025 |url=https://www.espn.com/wnba/story/_/id/38572580/wnba-announces-bay-area-expansion-team-begin-play-2025 |publisher=ESPN}} The expansion fee for the franchise was reported to be $50 million over 10 years.{{Cite web|url=https://sports.yahoo.com/warriors-commit-record-50m-secure-170752570.html|website=Yahoo.com|title=Warriors to Pay Record $50M to Secure WNBA Expansion Team|date=October 5, 2023|author1=Novy-Williams, Eben |author2=Soshnick, Scott}} It was reported that the team's name would include "Golden State", with announcement of the name, logos, and uniforms to come at a later date.

Within the first few hours of being announced, over 2,000 season ticket deposits were placed. On January 30, 2024, Jess Smith, an executive with Angel City FC of the NWSL, was hired as the team's president.{{Cite web|url=https://www.espn.com/wnba/story/_/id/39422907/angel-city-fc-exec-jess-smith-head-warriors-wnba-team|publisher=ESPN|title=Angel City FC exec Jess Smith to head Warriors' WNBA team|author=Philippou, Alexa|date=January 30, 2024}} On April 16, the team surpassed 6,000 season ticket deposits.{{Cite news|url=https://www.mercurynews.com/2024/04/16/2025-wnba-draft-five-prospects-to-watch-for-golden-states-expansion-team/|newspaper=The Mercury News|title=2025 WNBA Draft: Five prospects to watch for Golden State's expansion team |author=Mastrodonato, Jason|date=April 16, 2024}} Ohemaa Nyanin was announced as general manager on May 7.{{cite web |last1=Philippou |first1=Alexa |title=WNBA expansion franchise Golden State hires Ohemaa Nyanin as GM |url=https://www.espn.com/wnba/story/_/id/40095276/wnba-expansion-franchise-golden-state-hires-ohemaa-nyanin-gm |date=6 May 2024 |publisher=ESPN |access-date=8 May 2024}} A WNBA expansion draft occurred in early December 2024, and Golden State will participate in its first WNBA draft in 2025.{{cite news |first1=Cydney |last1=Henderson |first2=Ellen J. |last2=Horrow |title=WNBA expansion draft live updates: Golden State Valkyries pick their players for 2025 |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/wnba/2024/12/06/wnba-expansion-draft-golden-state-valkyries-roster-updates/76809659007/ |work=USA Today |date=December 6, 2024 |access-date=December 6, 2024 |language=en}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.wnba.com/golden-state/faq|publisher=Women's National Basketball Association|title=Golden State FAQ}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/article/what-s-next-golden-state-wnba-team-timeline-18640134.php|newspaper=San Francisco Chronicle|url-access=subscription|title=What's next for Golden State WNBA team? Timeline for name, GM, coach, roster|date=February 1, 2024|author=Ingemi, Marisa}}

The team name – Golden State Valkyries – and logos were revealed on May 14, 2024. The 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, and the wings split the space into five triangles to represent the ten players on the court. The outer shape is a V to represent the Valkyries.{{Cite web |date=May 14, 2024 |title=Golden State's WNBA team to be called Valkyries |url=https://www.espn.com/wnba/story/_/id/40144462/wnba-expansion-team-golden-state-announces-team-name-valkyries |access-date=May 14, 2024 |publisher=ESPN |language=en |author=Philippou, Alexa}}

Season-by-season records

class="wikitable" style="margin:1em auto; font-size:95%; text-align: center; min-width: 85%;"
rowspan=2 style="width: 10%;"\| Season !rowspan=2 style="width: 8%;" \| Team !rowspan=2 colspan=2 style="width: 12%;" \| Conference !colspan=3 style="width: 15%;"\| Regular season !rowspan=2 style="width: 30%;"\| Playoff Results !rowspan=2 style="width: 13%;"\| Head coach
style="width: 5%;"\|W !style="width: 5%;"\|L !style="width: 5%;"\|PCT
colspan=9 style="{{WNBA color cell\|Golden State Valkyries}};"\|Golden State Valkyries
2025 \| 2025 \| style="width: 10%"\|West \| — \| 7 \| 6 \| .538 \| — \| Natalie Nakase

class="wikitable" style="margin:1em auto; font-size:95%; text-align: center; min-width: 85%;"

rowspan=2 style="width: 10%;"| Season

!rowspan=2 style="width: 8%;" | Team

!rowspan=2 colspan=2 style="width: 12%;" | Conference

!colspan=3 style="width: 15%;"| Regular season

!rowspan=2 style="width: 30%;"| Playoff Results

!rowspan=2 style="width: 13%;"| Head coach

style="width: 5%;"|W

!style="width: 5%;"|L

!style="width: 5%;"|PCT

colspan=9 style="{{WNBA color cell|Golden State Valkyries}};"|Golden State Valkyries

2025

| 2025

| style="width: 10%"|West

| —

| 7

| 6

| .538

| —

| Natalie Nakase

Players

=Current roster=

Coaches and staff

= Head coaches =

On October 10, 2024, Natalie Nakase was hired by the Valkyries to be their first head coach.{{cite web|title= Golden State Valkyries Announce Natalie Nakase as Head Coach|url=https://valkyries.com/news/golden-state-valkyries-announce-natalie-nakase-as-head-coach-20241010/|website=valkyries.com|date=October 10, 2024|access-date=October 11, 2024}}

colspan=12 style="{{WNBA color cell\|Golden State Valkyries}};"\|Golden State Valkyries head coaches
class="wikitable" style="clear:both; margin:1.5em auto; min-width:90%; font-size:88%; text-align:center;"
width="15%" rowspan=2 \| Name ! width="10%" rowspan=2 \| Start ! width="10%" rowspan=2 \| End ! width="5%" rowspan=2 \| Seasons ! width="20%" colspan=4 \| Regular season ! width="20%" colspan=4 \| Playoffs
W	L	PCT	G	W	L	PCT	G
Natalie Nakase	October 10, 2024	Current	0	0	0	{{Winning percentage\|0\|0}}	0	0	0	{{Winning percentage\|0\|0}}	0

= General managers =

Ohemaa Nyanin (2024–present)

= Assistant coaches =

Kasib Powell (2025–present)
Sugar Rodgers (2025–present)
Landon Tatum (2025–present)

References

External links

{{Official website}}

Category:Golden State Valkyries

Category:Basketball in San Francisco

Category:Women's National Basketball Association teams

Category:2023 establishments in California

Category:Basketball teams established in 2023

Golden State Valkyries

Category:Women's sports in San Francisco