Expansion teams aren’t supposed to be good.

By nature, their first signed players are chosen athletes whose former teams opted not to keep them. Expansion teams aren’t supposed to be good, but nobody told the Golden State Valkyries.

The newest WNBA team entered the second half of the season with a 10-12 record, surprising many who thought they wouldn’t be competitive in year one. A rough road stretch leading into the All-Star Break saw them dip under a .500 win percentage, but the oddsmakers still have the Valks making WNBA history.

While the league may be surprised, the Valkyries aren’t.

“Honestly, they are what they publicly said they were going to be,” said Marisa Ingemi, the Valkyries beat reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle.

“They committed to an identity. Every player they selected was to fill in the way that Natalie (Nakase) wanted this team to play, and they've stuck with it. I wasn't sure they would have the personnel for it to work, but something they've done really well is this plug-and-play style,” Ingemi added. 

BUILDING THE FOUNDATION

After the expansion draft, head coach Natalie Nakase was pleased with how her team was shaping up. Headlined by 2024 WNBA Champion Kayla Thornton, acquired from the New York Liberty, this team would be all about defense, hustle, and grit.

In free agency, the team went after players who lacked WNBA experience, but made up for it with their international flavor. The current Golden State roster features players from five different countries. That is unsurprising considering their general manager, Ohemaa Nyanin, helped the New York Liberty acquire players like German Olympian Leonie Fiebich and French Olympic medalist Marine Johannes.

“International relations and soft diplomacy is everything that I strive to do,” Nyanin told Olympics.com in March.

“Now that I'm kind of at (the) professional basketball level, the game is global. I'm able to say a couple of words in languages that I don't speak. And just that endearing way of trying to connect with the human is how I've kind of grown.

“In addition, I'm someone who values. I value people, I value connection, and I value the stories of each of our athletes and staff members. How did you get to where you got to?”

Her understanding of the International basketball community and her care for curating a welcoming, effective, and impactful community has served her well and is reflected in the Valkyries team.

“If we're having a conversation, we already know you can play the sport. So what else do you bring? And how can we continue to collaborate to make sure that you get everything that you need off court?

“Are you ready to fight? Are you ready to win? Are you ready to change your community? Transforming a community is core to what we are trying to do, and the community is big. For this community in the Bay Area, they're hungry for a team. So, the type of athlete that we're looking for is an athlete who at their core, has very high character,” Nyanin added.

Photo courtesy of the Golden State Valkyries

ROUGH EDGES

On the other side of the All-Star, Golden State likely won’t be surprising teams anymore. The Valkyries suffered three straight losses going into the break, including one decided by a free throw. The early July road trip showed that grit can only get you so far. The team still has work to do before it reaches its full potential.

“They haven't really closed games that well on the road, which I think is just like standard expansion team stuff, and they've had so much roster turnover during the season to like, I think that just needs some time,” Ingemi said, referring to the six players who missed games in June to compete in Eurobasket.

However, she sees the team improving, and Nakase agrees. “I said I was so proud. The execution down the stretch, the fight, how hard we played, I couldn’t ask for a better game,” the Golden State head coach said after a narrow loss to the Phoenix Mercury on July 14. Although the loss dropped the Valkyries out of the top eight teams and playoff position, they battled hard against a Mercury that has been a steady top-three team in the league.

While late-game execution was a major issue in the team's loss to the Las Vegas Aces, the Nakase-led team licked its wounds and returned stronger two days later.

The win eluded Golden State, but not the lessons.

“The progressions, again, of tonight, the fact that we can just make eye contact and we knew which player we wanted to shoot that shot … that’s selflessness, that’s connectedness, that’s being on the same page. We’re halfway through, and my team is just, man, they’re connected, and I couldn’t be prouder,” she said.

Kayla Thornton #5 talks to her teammates after their win over the Indiana Fever

Photo by Eakin Howard / Getty Images

MEASURING SUCCESS

For some, Golden State has already exceeded expectations. Suppose you measure the Valkyries' success against the last WNBA expansion team—mission accomplished.

The 10 wins on the season are already more than double that. Seven wins would tie the Detroit Shock tally from 1998, and a winning record would make the Valks only the second expansion team, behind the Shock, to do so in their debut season.

However, if you measure Golden State by what it’s accomplished and capable of, there is more to be desired.

“Pretty quickly became apparent this is a team that can compete for a playoff spot, so I think their worst-case scenario now is going to be as a middling team that doesn't make the playoffs,” Ingemi said. “At this point, it's almost playoffs or bust, because when you have a season like they've had, where they've been in the race all season, I think it would be a letdown, at this point, not to make it.”

Thornton, Golden State’s first-ever All-Star, believes her team is up for the task.

“We have a lot more to do. We have a lot more to come,” the veteran in her 10th season said ahead of her first-ever All-Star Game. “We finally have our final roster now, so now we can really focus.”

THE BIGGER PICTURE

There is something quite radical about building a sports team today without a star player. But the risk paid off—and there’s a lesson to be gleaned from how Coach Natalie Nakase has curated the Valkyries line-up. It’s applicable beyond the basketball court—in both life and in the workplace.

It’s strength in numbers; the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Each person we choose to surround ourselves with, whether friend or employee, can be strong in areas where others, including ourselves, are weaker. This is a huddle where differences should be celebrated. Find the nuance in character and skillset and create around those principles. Build your team and fill it with team players. 

Editor's Note:

On July 25, the Golden State Valkyries announced Kayla Thornton underwent successful knee surgery on an injury suffered at practice after All-Star Weekend. She will miss the remainder of the season.