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Ramona Shelburne: After a weekend of nonstop frantic discussions and negotiation, Game 6 of the WNBA Finals will be played Thursday at 12:30 pm at 17,000-seat State Farm Arena in Atlanta, sources told ESPN. The Atlanta Hawks-Cleveland Cavaliers game that night will move back to 8 pm to accommodate the doubleheader, just as the Hawks did for Game 4. This allows a potential Game 7 to remain scheduled for Halloween at Chase Center in San Francisco. All three Finals games in Atlanta have required hurried adjustments to the schedule at State Farm Arena. It took collective efforts from the WNBA, NBA, the Hawks, State Farm Arena, Dream, Valkyries and broadcast partners to figure out the best course of action again. By moving the game earlier in the day, the WNBA avoided a scenario where a potential championship game was played inside the Dream’s home arena, the 3,500 seat Gateway Center. The other option under strong consideration was moving Game 6 to an open date at State Farm Arena on Friday and Game 7 to an open date at Chase Center on Tuesday, November 3.
After the Valkyries beat the Dream 67-62 in Game 4 of the WNBA Finals on Saturday in Atlanta's State Farm Arena, tying the best-of-seven series at 2-2, one question was answered and another far more important question was raised. There will be a Game 6 in Atlanta. But nobody knows where or even when the game will be played despite a furious round of negotiations spilling into Sunday between the WNBA, NBA, Valkyries, Dream and Atlanta Hawks, sources told ESPN.
The Golden State Valkyries were down, but showed when it matters they're far from out. In Game 4 of the WNBA Finals, the Valkyries bounced back with a 67-62 victory over the Atlanta Dream to even the series 2-2 on Saturday, Oct. 24 at State Farm Arena."Fight, man, we just had to have more fight, more grit, get back to us," Valkyries guard Tiffany Hayes said. "We still made a few mistakes, but at the end of the day, we played hard and came out with the win."
Gabby Williams led the Valkyries with 17 points. Hayes and Veronica Burton added 13 points each. Cecilia Zandalasini added 10 points off the bench after being moved out of the starting lineup.
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Several of Gray's Atlanta teammates and Golden State players shared her sentiments, saying they were tuning out anything that didn't have to do with game preparations. "For me, it's staying off social media. It's just going inward with our teammates and staff," Valkyries forward Kiah Stokes said. "Staying together. That's been one of our keys all season." Leaving the court before the anthem is not a recent development in the WNBA. It has been part of many teams' pregame routine for years, dating back to at least when the league played the entire 2020 season in Florida because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Golden State Valkyries will end up playing their first two WNBA Finals road games in the NBA-sized State Farm Arena after all. It just took the league moving both games to accommodate previously scheduled events. The WNBA announced on Tuesday morning that Game 3 will be shifted back a day, now set to be played on Wednesday, Oct. 21, at 5 p.m. Pacific Standard Time (8 p.m. in Atlanta) at State Farm Arena. Game 4 will still be played on Saturday, Oct. 24, but the game time has been moved from 12:30 p.m. to 10 a.m. PST.
Scott Agness: Minnesota Lynx coach and president Cheryl Reeve with the award sweep. Voted WNBA Coach of the Year and now Executive of the Year for 2026. EOY is voted on by an executive from each team. She was on 13 ballots, Dan Padover (ATL) on 11, Ohemaa Nyanin (GSV) on 8.
Kendra Andrews: NEWS: Valkyries forward Janelle Salaun has been named the unanimous Sixth Player of the Year. She received all 74 votes. Salaun’s 12.7 points per game led all reserve players this season and ranked seventh all-time in league history.
That has forced the Warriors to find advantages in new places. “Chase South” is one of them. “If you come in here and you haven’t seen it before, you’ll go, ‘Wow, are we at the Chase Center?’” Warriors assistant general manager Larry Harris said. Inside the Las Vegas Basketball Center, pictures of Curry, Draymond Green, Steve Kerr and other current and former team staffers, players and coaches adorn the walls. Warriors and Golden State Valkyries banners hang from the ceiling. Two of the actual courts the Warriors played on over the last few seasons make up part of the Las Vegas facility’s five full-sized courts. A weight room sits in the back of the building. Longtime Warriors public relations maestro Raymond Ridder and his staff have a dedicated workspace. So does the team chef, who puts together made-to-order meals while players get their work in on the courts nearby.
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So negotiating a greater share of that increasing revenue is important. But the even greater area of growth for WNBA teams has been in their valuations, which exploded by 180 percent just since last year and possibly as much as 82 percent annually each year since 2021. Likewise, the league’s $250 million expansion fee for the new crop of teams joining the WNBA in Cleveland, Detroit, and Philadelphia is a 124 percent annualized increase over what the Golden State Valkyries paid ($50 million) in 2023. These increases in valuation, implied or estimated, are even greater than increases in short-term league revenue projections, which is why the players are even more miffed about the frictions in their negotiations — and why they talk about wanting a piece of the league’s asset growth, not just its revenue growth (as the traditional sports-league model has long held). “It’s interesting that there’s a $250 million expansion fee, and there’s no openness to have that be reflected in revenue share that goes to the players, especially as we’re experiencing growth,” Ogwumike said to the Associated Press before the All-Star festivities in Indianapolis. “It doesn’t make a lot of sense to me, but we’re hoping we can get some clarity on that in Indiana.”
Future WNBA franchise overall rankings: 1. Indiana: The Fever hold a slight edge in this exercise over the league’s other 12 teams. The duo of Caitlin Clark and Aliyah Boston lift Indiana to the No. 1 ranking in the player category (our most heavily-weighted section), and the Fever don’t rank lower than eighth in any of the four other categories. A new facility in 2027 should only make Indiana a more desirable place to play. 2. Golden State: It’s hard to imagine a better first half of the 2025 season for the Valkyries. They are hovering around .500 at the All-Star break, while leading the league in home attendance. Owner Joe Lacob wants Golden State to win a title in the next five years, and that goal doesn’t seem too lofty in reality. The Valkyries already have proven their front office is strong, and it’s coupled with an ownership group willing to invest. Their roster is deep, with a number of high-potential young players and facilities that will help them become one of the league’s most appealing teams.
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.’”
