Golden State's second-year Valkyries beat the Atlanta Dream in the finals decider to take the WNBA title, and the diaspora should pay attention.
African basketball fans have a new roster to scout. The Golden State Valkyries are WNBA champions after beating the Atlanta Dream in the finals decider, and any title-winning team is worth combing for diaspora talent and players with roots across the continent. Keep your eyes on the Bay.
The speed of the rise is the story. The Valkyries are only in their second season as a franchise, and they have already gone from expansion newcomers to the top of the league. Few young teams in any sport build a champion-level identity this quickly.
The Dream took the series all the way to a deciding game, so Atlanta clearly made Golden State earn it. When a finals goes the distance, the winner usually has the nerve to match its talent, and the Valkyries showed that when it counted.
For Afroballers readers, the title run is also a chance to track the pipeline. The WNBA keeps drawing players from the African diaspora, and champions get the biggest spotlight and the deepest rotations to study. We will follow how the Valkyries' roster develops, and which names with African ties are worth putting on your radar.
For now, Golden State is the standard in women's basketball, and the rest of the league has to catch up.
