WNBA Power Rankings: Unbeaten Liberty, Valkyries o...
Key takeaways
- The Golden State Valkyries were a feel-good story in their 2025 inaugural season as they began a new wave of WNBA expansion.
- Still, Golden State is off to a 2-0 start and opens at No. 2 as ESPN's WNBA Power Rankings debut for the 2026 season.
- So from a media and social media perspective, it has been a rockier launch to the Valkyries' second season.
Why this matters: a sports story that could shift standings, legacies, or fan conversations.
The Golden State Valkyries were a feel-good story in their 2025 inaugural season as they began a new wave of WNBA expansion. But a year later, as is the nature of professional sports, their personnel moves have been criticized. It's like a rite of passage for a new franchise in any sport to go from hearing, "Isn't this awesome?" to "What the heck are you doing?"
Still, Golden State is off to a 2-0 start and opens at No. 2 as ESPN's WNBA Power Rankings debut for the 2026 season. The Valkyries took heat for their draft-day trade of No. 8 pick Flau'jae Johnson to the Seattle Storm for No. 16 Marta Suarez, only to then cut Suarez. Their initial reticence to discuss the reasoning only brought more questions. Ultimately, general manager Ohemaa Nyanin said the trade was done to maintain cap flexibility. Golden State also cut fan favorite Kate Martin, although it was an understandable move from a personnel standpoint.
So from a media and social media perspective, it has been a rockier launch to the Valkyries' second season. But none of this impacted how they played on opening weekend. They won 91-80 at Seattle on Friday, then cooled down Phoenix 95-79 on Saturday after the Mercury had defeated defending champion Las Vegas the day before. Forward Janelle Salaun led Golden State with 20 and 21 points in those games, shooting a combined 14-of-26 (53.8%). Guard Veronica Burton had a combined 29 points, 18 assists and one turnover.