If you go by the strict definition of what is an expansion team, the concept of one winning a WNBA title isn’t as outlandish as it might first seem to be. There were only eight teams that took the court in its inaugural 1997-98 season and only three–the Liberty, Sparks and Mercury–remain intact from that debut. The first decade was rampant with the addition, subtraction and relocation of several franchises that struggled to make any dent at all.
So the league flatlined between 2007 when it added its 12th team, the Atlanta Dream and its 13th, the Golden State Valkyries. And now the two most recent additions prior to this summer are each a win away from chasing their first-ever league championship.
The Dream have at least had a sniff of it before, making the league finals three times in a five-season span that immediately followed an ignominious 4-30 debut campaign. Since then the franchise has struggled mightily, eventually self-relegating themselves to a significant smaller arena in suburban College Park after failing to even draw flies to the upper bowl of the downtown State Farm Arena. That’s now all history, and last night was a major step toward forging a far more glorious one as YAHOO! SPORTS’ Teddy Ricketson recounted:
The Atlanta Dream held on for a 101-98 overtime win over the New York Liberty in Game 2 on Wednesday, putting them up 2-0 in the best-of-five series as the action shifts to New York for Game 3 on Friday night.
The game was back-and-forth throughout, and New York needed a 3-pointer with 4.5 seconds left in regulation to force overtime. And in the waning seconds of that extra period, the existence of the Liberty’s reset timeout caused confusion and controversy in the aftermath.
At the end of overtime, New York was inbounding and had its reset timeout. In a head-scratching decision, the Liberty opted not to use it. The baseline inbounds pass intended for a well-guarded Marine Johannes at halfcourt skipped off her right hand. Breanna Stewart was able to collect it and threw a desperation heave toward the bucket that fell short.
Defensive Player of the Year Angel Reese dominated, finishing with 23 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal and 2 blocks. She also hit two free throws to extend the Dream’s lead to three to ice the game and give Atlanta the cushion it won with.
After a troubled start to her pro career where she was saddled with coming out of the same draft class as Caitlin Clark after they had established their own version of Larry vs. Magic in college, further muffled by unrealistic expectations and jealousy from a midwestern fan base that has adored Clark from Iowa and now to Indiana that somehow saw Reese and her Chicago Sky as de facto weak sisters, she has been rejuvenated with a relocation to SEC territory and a far more supportive and demographically opportunistic fan base. So much so that last night’s thriller filled State Farm Arena and the team announced just prior to last night’s game that their entire 2027 season will be played there.
But for as heartwarming as that story may indeed be it pales to the one being written in downtown San Francisco where the second-year Valkyries have not only more than filled the summer sports void in the Bay Area left open by the relocation of the A’s and the regression of the Giants but they have arguably begun to eclipse even their Chase Center co-tenant Warriors for enthusiasm and upside. They have turned the blue black and gold of Dub Nation into their own lavender “Ballhalla”, as they reference it, and as team shill Gabriella Rizzo reported Ballhalla became Nirvana:
The Golden State Valkyries beat the Las Vegas Aces 83-81 in thrilling fashion on Wednesday night at Chase Center. A momentum shifting fourth quarter allowed the Aces to gain the lead for the first time all game with two minutes left. The Valkyries quickly responded with back-to-back clutch baskets from Gabby Williams and Veronica Burton that ultimately led to a crucial Game 2 victory in Ballhalla.
Tiffany Hayes recorded a team-high 21 points off the bench, leading the reserves to outscore the Aces 34-14. The Valkyries largest advantage reached 17 points in the third quarter.
Being able to accomplish this against the defending league champions and arguably the league’s model franchise has caused the entire league fan base–regardless of particular ideological camp–to sit up and take notice. A city as open-minded as is San Francisco is an ideal petri dish for the scandal-challenged league to regenerate in. Creating a championship caliber squad from scratch in such a short time makes their appeal indisputable. And mind you this is hardly a fluke–they won 31 games during the expanded regular season and are the league’s top remaining seed after the Liberty made short work of the Lynx in the quarterfinal round.
To be certain, both series are far from over given the recent resilliency of their respective foes. But if each can go even .333 the rest of the potential way the league will be able to bring closure to its third decade with a couple of feel-good stories that don’t involve any of the playas that heretofore dragged them down.
Dream about that, folks.
Courage…