Advertisement - scroll for more content
After receiving 11 bids, the WNBA chose Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia as its next three expansion teams, with all three teams backed by owners of the NBA teams in those cities. The owners of the three WNBA expansion teams preceding these—the Golden State Valkyries, the Toronto Tempo and Portland—also have NBA ties. Last September, Allen & Co. was hired by the league to lead the expansion process. “If there are NBA owners in the back room saying, ‘Hey, when am I getting my team?’ I think Adam [Silver] is probably listening,” Austin expansion backer Fran Harris, an entrepreneur and former WNBA player, told Sportico in a phone interview. “It’s hard to tell a billionaire with a thriving NBA team and operation that they can’t run it back with a W team. It’s hard to look at them and just go, ‘I don’t think you’re right.’”
Ohm Youngmisuk: Steve Kerr and Doc Rivers are sitting courtside for Valkyries opener. Doc is here to support Golden State coach Natalie Nakase, who was an assistant under Doc and Ty Lue with the Clippers.
Ohm Youngmisuk: Several Warriors players and Steve Kerr are expected to attend the inaugural Valkyries game tonight at Chase Center. Steph Curry, unfortunately, had to cancel due to a last-minute personal matter.
Sports Media Watch: NBA will not adjust Finals schedule in the event that both GS-MIN and WCF both go seven games. Because of GS Valkyries home opener, GS-MIN could go as late as May 20 (original start date for WCF), pushing a potential WCF Game 7 to as late as June 3. Finals starts June 5.
Advertisement
Most mock drafts now place Sellers as the No. 4 or No. 5 pick, which would send her to the Washington Mystics or expansion Golden State Valkyries. Still, that hasn’t kept the Sellerses from making their pitch. They feel Chicago would be a perfect fit for Shyanne — her older sister Syarra is even studying law at DePaul, regularly teasing Shyanne about the prospect of living in the same city again. And for the Sellers family, it’s hard not to hope for a return home. “It really brings you full circle,” Brad Sellers said. “She knows what the city of Chicago means to our family and what it has done for us. To see her come back, it would be a joy for me.” The Bulls drafted Sellers with the ninth pick in the 1986 NBA draft as they began building a roster around Michael Jordan. Sellers didn’t stay in Chicago long enough to reap the benefits of the ’90s Bulls. He was traded to the Seattle Supersonics just three years later and remained in the NBA until 1993, when he continued his playing career overseas.
Natalie Nakase knew she had the opportunity of a lifetime. After years of serving as an assistant coach — in the G League, NBA, and ultimately the WNBA — she had finally achieved a longtime dream of leading her own team. At last, the 44-year-old former UCLA point guard would be a head coach, selected to lead the WNBA’s incoming expansion team, the Golden State Valkyries. Nakase, who was previously an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Clippers (2018-2020) and Las Vegas Aces (2022-24), has no shortage of experience on the bench. Under Clippers coach Ty Lue, she earned the respect of dozens of NBA players. Under the leadership of Becky Hammon, she won two WNBA championships alongside some of the best players in the sport. To this day, she credits Hammon for helping shape the WNBA into the league it is today — and for giving her a career-altering opportunity. Still, in the wake of her hiring in Golden State, there was someone else in the coaching world Nakase was eager to get to know: Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla, who just a few months earlier had become the youngest head coach in the NBA to win a championship since Bill Russell did so in 1968 at age 34.
Cleveland is expected to join the league for the 2028 season playing at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. They will be reprised as the Cleveland Rockers, an original WNBA franchise that folded after the 2003 season when former owner Gordon Gund could not sell the team due to tumbling revenue and erratic attendance. But in the two decades since, the league’s exponential growth and popularity has led to rising expansion fees. The Golden State Valkyries, the league’s 13th franchise launching in May, paid $50M to join the WNBA, while Toronto and Portland —the 14th and 15th franchises —paid $115M and $125M, respectively. Now that has doubled.
Advertisement
Kendra Andrews: A look at the plans for the Valkyries’ locker room at Chase Center and practice facility in Oakland. Golden State is working with Populous to design the spaces
JPMorgan Chase has signed a multiyear sponsorship deal to be the first founding partner of Golden State Valkyries, the WNBA’s next expansion team. The agreement will see the Chase Freedom logo appear as the Valkyries’ jersey patch when the team begins play in 2025.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement