Expansion teams are supposed to need time. There is usually a grace period filled with roster experiments, growing pains and losses while a new franchise figures out exactly what it wants to be. Apparently, no one told that to the Golden State Valkyries.

In 2025, Golden State entered the WNBA as its newest franchise and immediately challenged expectations. The Valkyries won 23 games, setting a WNBA record for an expansion team's inaugural season, and became the first expansion franchise in league history to reach the playoffs in year one. 

One year later, the Valkyries are heading back to the postseason. Golden State finished the 2026 regular season 32-12, improving by nine wins and securing the No. 2 seed in the WNBA playoffs. After entering last year's postseason as the eighth seed, the Valkyries will now open the playoffs with home-court advantage. Expectations look completely different from those surrounding the franchise just one year ago. The question is no longer whether an expansion team can compete—it's how far this one can go.

“The question is no longer whether an expansion team can compete—it's how far this one can go.”

VIS Creator Maya Heyman

Building an Identity

Golden State's quick rise starts with an identity. Head coach Natalie Nakase established defense as the team's calling card almost immediately. During its inaugural season, Golden State allowed a league-low 76.3 points per game, helping Nakase earn WNBA Coach of the Year honors. After a successful first season, the Valkyries built on that formula. They retained key pieces of their original core, including Veronica Burton, Kayla Thornton and Janelle Salaün. Burton entered year two after winning the WNBA's Most Improved Player award, while Thornton had already become the first All-Star in franchise history. Golden State also added Gabby Williams, an All-Star and All-Defensive wing who gave Nakase another versatile piece for a defense already built to frustrate opponents.

That combination of continuity and calculated change has brought the Valkyries to this moment: a second playoff appearance in two tries and an opportunity to show that their historic debut was only the beginning. 

For women pursuing careers throughout the sports industry, there is something worth taking from the way Golden State got here: being new doesn't have to mean thinking small. The Valkyries didn't have decades of tradition when they entered the league. They had to build an identity from scratch, and rather than treating that as a disadvantage, they used it as an opportunity to establish expectations immediately. That lesson extends beyond basketball. Whether you're entering sports as an athlete, coach, journalist, marketer or executive, experience takes time to accumulate. Knowing what you want to bring to the industry doesn't have to.

The franchise's rise also demonstrates what can happen when women's sports receive serious investment from the beginning. For the second consecutive season, Golden State sold out every regular-season home game at Chase Center, averaging more than 18,000 fans in 2026. 

"Ballhalla" has quickly become one of the WNBA's most recognizable home environments, and now those fans get to see what this team can do in the postseason. Golden State's success is another reminder that women's sports do not always need to prove an audience exists before receiving ambitious investment. When organizations put resources behind the product, create a strong identity and give fans an experience worth buying into, growth can happen quickly.

Underdog to Expectations

Now comes the part Golden State couldn't conquer in its debut season. The Valkyries' first playoff experience was brief, as the eighth-seeded team was swept by the top-seeded Minnesota Lynx. A year later, the circumstances could hardly be more different. Golden State enters as the No. 2 seed and will face the No. 7 seed Dallas Wings in the opening round. Instead of trying to pull off an upset, the Valkyries now have to handle something relatively unfamiliar for a franchise this young: expectations.

That may be what makes Golden State one of the most intriguing teams to watch this postseason. Plenty of franchises spend years trying to establish a winning culture. Golden State has built one in two. But regular-season success and playoff success are two different challenges. Can its defense hold up in a playoff series? Can a young franchise respond when the expectation is no longer simply to compete? And can the energy of Ballhalla help push the Valkyries deeper into the postseason?

The answers are coming, but Golden State's first two seasons have already offered a valuable lesson for women across sports. You don't have to wait until you've been around the longest to establish your value. Build an identity, surround yourself with the right people, learn from your first opportunity and return better prepared for the next one. That's exactly what the Valkyries have done.

The Real Test

Last season, Golden State entered the playoffs trying to prove it belonged. This time, the Valkyries enter with home-court advantage, greater expectations and a chance to turn one of the fastest rises in WNBA history into something even bigger.