Are the Golden State Valkyries the best WNBA expansion team in history? Being proven wrong is a difficult experience, especially for sports writers.
Despite having the resources and location, I predicted a disappointing season for the expansion Golden State Valkyries due to a lack of major acquisitions. I liked the expansion draft picks and training camp invites (though I still believe Chloe Bibby deserved a better chance), but I didn’t think the team would make the playoffs without that one certain star.
The Valkyries have shown that teams can create superstars, such as Veronica Burton, rather than acquiring them. The Valkyries set a WNBA record for an expansion team by winning their 18th game on Friday.
Despite losing their next two games to the Atlanta Dream on Sunday and the Phoenix Mercury on Tuesday, they are still ranked 7th in the league. However, the distance between them and the teams immediately below them in the standings—the Seattle Storm, the Los Angeles Sparks, and the Washington Mystics—is extremely narrow. Only two of the four will advance to the postseason.
Even if they don’t make the playoffs, would the Valkyries be considered the best expansion franchise in WNBA history? First, we need to determine if a team can relocate an expansion franchise. The short answer is: no. A team that keeps their front office and roster—or sections of both, at least, because making changes is an organizational decision rather than something mandated by the league and its rules—isn’t exactly starting from scratch.
The Detroit Shock won 17 games in their debut WNBA season, losing only 13, for a 58 percent winning record. They were unable to advance to the playoffs because only four clubs competed at the time. In 1999, the Miracle and the Lynx won 15 games and lost 17. While six teams had the same record, the Lynx were eliminated from the playoffs because the Western Conference was packed, with three teams having higher records; in the East, the Shock edged the Miracle for the final playoff berth in the season’s final game.
The Valkyries, along with the Shock, Miracle, and Lynx, are among the top four newcomers in W history, having performed poorly throughout their 2000, 2006, and 2008 expansion seasons. And if they make the playoffs, they will truly be in a class of their own. The location of the Valkyries in the next five years is very intriguing. Longevity remains the primary concern in the W.
The Shock and Lynx won a combined seven championships, establishing themselves as sports dynasties. The Shock were once such a huge thing in Detroit that then-mayor Kwame Kilpatrick declared September 17, 2003 “Detroit Shock Day”.
With the established legacies of men’s sports franchises in the Bay Area, such as the NBA’s Golden State Warriors and the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers, would “Golden State Valkyries Day” be declared in San Francisco? I have my doubts, but I don’t mind being proven wrong by this brand again and again.
