Gabby Williams Only Needed 2 Games to Validate Bold Valkyries Vision
The Golden State Valkyries took the basketball world by storm last season. Without a clear-cut star, the Valkyries made history by selling out every single one of their home games, setting attendance records, and becoming the first expansion team to make the playoffs in its first season in the W.
Valkyries owner Joe Lacob has made it clear that he expects the Valkyries to compete for a championship sooner rather than later. Considering that mindset and how appealing Golden State should be to players, the Valkyries’ offseason could have brought a ton of changes with several stars coming in.
Instead, the Valkyries clearly wanted to rely on continuity. They re-signed most of their key players from last season and added a lone veteran star. Gabby Williams fits the Valkyries’ identity perfectly as a defensive standout who can knock down threes at a high volume. Still, one question remained: Will just one All-Star addition be enough to take the team to the next level?
Two games into the season, it seems like the answer may be yes. The Valkyries’ offense looks much improved with Williams in the mix.
Williams got off to a slow start, but is changing things for the Valkyries
The Valkyries leaned heavily on their defense to fuel last season’s success. They were one of the worst offensive teams in the league, missing most of their league-leading 3-point attempts and relying on former role players to become high-level scorers. The Valkyries only scored 90 or more points in six games last season—most of which were against bad defensive teams, like the Chicago Sky, Dallas Wings, Washington Mystics, and pre-turnaround Las Vegas Aces.
Golden State cracked the 90-point mark in both games—two wins—so far this season, including a matchup with a Phoenix Mercury team that absolutely embarrassed the reigning champions after their ring ceremony.
Gabby Williams didn’t have the greatest start to her Valkyries career—she scored 7 points on 2-9 shooting against the Seattle Storm—but quickly found her groove against the Mercury with 19 points on 53.8% shooting from the field, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 steals, and 1 block.
Williams’s presence makes a massive difference for the Valkyries’ offense. She amplifies the team’s strong defensive identity, which leads to easy transition looks for her and her teammates. Moreover, opponents have to put their best perimeter defender on Williams and cannot help off of her. That creates better spacing and means that players like Kayla Thornton and Janelle Salaün face less defensive attention than they did last season.
Thornton emerged as the Valkyries’ first All-Star when she became the team’s leading scorer. But none of her points came easy, as she struggled with the heightened workload and defensive attention. Thornton shot only 36.2% from the field last season. She shot 44.4% and 57.1% in her first two games this season, while still getting up a ton of shots.
Salaün faced a similar issue when she was forced into a big offensive role as a rookie. She shot 40.6% from the field overall, but struggled to score efficiently around the rim despite her height. She shot 43.8% from the field in the season opener and 70% against the Mercury.
While it’s still early in the season, it already looks like Williams is taking the Valkyries to the next level. The one lingering concern with this team is its big rotation. With Iliana Rupert out, the Valkyries are left with a thin center rotation. It worked fine against the Storm, and Laeticia Amihere was outstanding against the Mercury, but it could still be a problem against teams with veteran star centers, like the Aces, Liberty, Fever, and Dream.
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Elaine Blum covers women’s basketball for On SI from Europe. She has been writing about women's hoops since 2023 and holds a Bachelor’s degree in English and Journalism and a master’s degree in American Studies with a focus on women’s and gender studies. She started playing basketball when she was 10 years old and won several league and state championships at the youth and senior level.