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Before the Golden State Valkyries in 2025, the most recent WNBA expansion team went 4-30 in their first season.
The Atlanta Dream turned it around the next year, and then had four straight winning seasons, but it was a rough start for the franchise that has won three conference titles in its short history.
A month into the 2025 WNBA season, the Valkyries have nearly doubled the Dream’s win total from 2008. The New York Liberty, who have handed Golden State three of its seven losses, were in town Wednesday night, and Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello heaped praise on the nascent organization.
“It's great to just to see the support that this team has to have sellouts every single game,” Brondello said. “I think [head coach Natalie Nakase] is doing a great job with the team. They play hard, and they play a really fun style, and they're very dangerous.”
Brondello explained that while expansion teams may be tempted to load up on young talent, building toward contention several years down the road, the Valkyries opted for experience.
“I think instead of just getting young players, they got established players, international players, that flavor,” Brondello said. “It’s good to see….they just went out and got players and maybe they’ve been the sixth player on their team but they have the opportunity to rise to the occasion.”
Breanna Stewart, who scored 23 to lead the Liberty to their win on Wednesday, agreed. She cautioned against underestimating the toughness of a team primarily made of players taken in an expansion draft.
“What you see with the Valkyries is their toughness,” she said. “One of their players talked about [they’re] a team full of sixth women. That’s really what it is. They never stop. They’re always in games and that’s what makes them incredibly dangerous.”
That could also be why the Valkyries seem to have rebounded from a 2-5 start. After a four-game losing streak that included a pair of losses to New York in Brooklyn, Golden State won three straight, beginning with a win over the 2023 champion Las Vegas Aces.
“I don't think their style's changed,” Brondello said of their improvement. “I think they're just doing it with a little bit more urgency. They've got some really good point guards. Everyone’s got the green light, and that's always hard to guard. There's no one that you can try to exploit, but I think they just play free. And when you can play free, great things can happen.”
