Kate Martin Sends 1-Word Message to Indiana Fever Player Released by Valkyries
Fundamentally, the WNBA is a business and businesses can be cutthroat, forcing hard decisions to be made.
The limited roster space on WNBA teams often forces these decisions to be made, which leads to teams making hard cuts and waiving or releasing players who still have a chance to contribute to the team.
Few franchises have faced these hard decisions as much as the Golden State Valkyries. In their debut season season the Valkyries have waived a dozen players and near-constantly been shifting their roster.
Some of those former Valkyries have found homes elsewhere and thrived. Among those has been now-Indiana Fever guard Chloe Bibby.
Despite the many players Golden State has had to part with in 2025, it is clear that there is no lack of love between the current team and those who have moved on.
When Bibby posted a series of pictures on Instagram on August 11, a few former teammates found their way to the comments. Valkyries guard Kate Martin left a one-word comment praising Bibby, who patrolled the backcourts of Ballhalla with her.
"Baller," Martin commented.
Kaitlin Chen, another Golden State guard, left a comment for her former teammate, commenting, "hi Chloe miss u."
Bibby was waived by the Valkyries on June 30. In seven games with the Fever she has averaged 3.4 points and 1.1 rebounds-per-game and 0.6 steals and assists-per-game. With fellow Fever guard Caitlin Clark struggling with injuries this season, Bibby has seen an elevated role and played 21 minutes for the Fever in a game against the Chicago Sky on August 9.
Calls Mount for WNBA to Expand Rosters
As previously alluded to, many WNBA teams face a roster crunch. This has led to calls for expanded rosters, with Valkyries head coach Natalie Nakase helping lead that charge
"Chloe [Bibby] got picked up by Indiana, Steph [Talbot] got picked up by New York, Mimi [Migna Touré] got picked up by Connecticut; am I proud parent that a lot of my players from training camp landed a job? Hell yeah," Nakase said last week via Kenzo Fukuda of ClutchPoints. "I've said this almost every press conference really: we need more roster spots. These girls deserve roster spots."
Bibby is on the record sharing her thankfullness for a brief stint in Golden State.
“[My] stint there at Golden State was a great time,” Bibby said (via Tony East). “… To be back in the W and have another crack is really exciting. I’m grateful for this opportunity with the Fever, and just excited.”
Bio: Jack Haslett is a writer and photographer covering Golden State Valkyries basketball for Sports Illustrated. Jack has previously published work with the Sporting Tribune, the Long Beach Current and DIG Magazine, covering sports, community events and news. A graduate from Long Beach State University, Jack has a passion for writing, photography and all things sports.