{"id":1632,"section":"sports","section_label":"Sports","url":"https://www.brokenews.co/sports/1632","headline":"Valkyries win WNBA title in second season, fastest expansion team ever","dek":"Gabby Williams scored 30 points as Golden State beat Atlanta 68-63 in Game 7 of the WNBA Finals.","body":"The Golden State Valkyries are WNBA champions after outlasting the Atlanta Dream 68-63 in Game 7 on Saturday night. Gabby Williams led the way with 30 points in a series that went the distance.\n\nIt is the first title in franchise history, and it came remarkably fast. Golden State joined the league as an expansion team in 2025 and needed just two seasons to reach the top of the sport. That makes the Valkyries the quickest expansion franchise to win a championship in WNBA history, and faster than any expansion team across the four major men's sports leagues. For comparison, the NHL's Golden Knights needed four seasons to win the Stanley Cup. Only MLS offers a faster turnaround, with the Chicago Fire winning that league's cup in their first year.\n\nThe win also fulfills a specific mandate. Team owner Joe Lacob, who leads the Golden State Group, challenged head coach Natalie Nakase when she was hired in 2024 to deliver a title within the franchise's first five seasons. She got it done in two.","published_at":"2026-11-01T17:18:12.852841+00:00","source_count":5,"written_from":[{"outlet":"The Athletic","publisher":"The Athletic","title":"Can the Valkyries repeat as WNBA champions? Of course. They're just getting started","url":"https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7743059/2026/11/01/golden-state-valkyries-wnba-champion-repeat-2027/"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Valkyries win WNBA title in their second season","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/valkyries-win-wnba-title-second-081704621.html"},{"outlet":"ESPN","publisher":"ESPN","title":"Valkyries outlast Dream in Game 7, secure first WNBA title","url":"https://www.espn.com/wnba/story/_/id/50343701/golden-state-valkyries-win-game-7-secure-first-wnba-title"},{"outlet":"Front Office Sports","publisher":"Front Office Sports","title":"Valkyries Make WNBA History With Championship in Second Season","url":"https://frontofficesports.com/article/valkyries-make-wnba-history-with-championship-in-second-season/"},{"outlet":"New York Post","publisher":"New York Post","title":"Valkyries beat Dream in Game 7 thriller to win WNBA Finals in just their second season","url":"https://nypost.com/2026/10/31/sports/valkyries-beat-dream-in-game-7-thriller-to-win-wnba-finals/"}],"more_coverage":[{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Way-too-early WNBA Power Rankings: Valkyries on top, Fever in top 5 in look ahead to 2027","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/way-too-early-wnba-power-022217613.html"},{"outlet":"The Athletic","publisher":"The Athletic","title":"Valkyries win WNBA championship 2 years into existence, beating Dream in Game 7","url":"https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7742640/2026/10/31/wnba-finals-champion-valkyries-dream/"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Golden State Valkyries wins first WNBA championship, beating Atlanta Dream in Game 7","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/golden-state-valkyries-wins-first-023105396.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Valkyries win 2026 WNBA Championship in just their second season","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/valkyries-win-2026-wnba-championship-022559719.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Valkyries WNBA Finals parade 2026 date, time, route and how to watch Golden State championship celebration","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/valkyries-wnba-finals-parade-2026-022928770.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Valkyries Make WNBA History With Championship in Second Season","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/valkyries-wnba-history-championship-second-022224460.html"},{"outlet":"ESPN","publisher":"ESPN","title":"Way-Too-Early WNBA Power Rankings: Where do Valkyries start in first look at 2027?","url":"https://www.espn.com/wnba/story/_/id/50314418/wnba-power-rankings-way-too-early-2027-valkyries-dream"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Valkyries defeat Dream to capture first WNBA crown","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/valkyries-defeat-dream-capture-first-024502068.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Golden State Valkyries prove what happens when you invest in women","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/golden-state-valkyries-prove-happens-025831566.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Celebrate the Valkyries' historic WNBA championship with the Chronicle's hardcover collector's book","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/celebrate-valkyries-historic-wnba-championship-032600314.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Recapping the Valkyries' run to a WNBA Championship in their second season","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/recapping-valkyries-run-wnba-championship-033000631.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Valkyries make history with shocking WNBA Finals fact","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/valkyries-history-shocking-wnba-finals-045307871.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Golden State Valkyries set ‘Super Bowl era’ record with historic WNBA championship win","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/golden-state-valkyries-set-super-052635003.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Valkyries’ Natalie Nakase hits ‘impatient’ boast after besting WNBA Finals promise by 3 years","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/valkyries-natalie-nakase-hits-impatient-054315229.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"See the Valkyries win first-ever WNBA championship in Game 7","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/see-valkyries-win-first-ever-063021045.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Valkyries’ Veronica Burton joins Chelsea Gray in unique WNBA-Unrivaled history","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/valkyries-veronica-burton-joins-chelsea-063430435.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Valkyries cement best startup ever status: ‘This is what happens when you invest in women's sports'","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/valkyries-cement-best-startup-ever-075240622.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Can the Valkyries repeat as WNBA champions? Of course. They’re just getting started","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/valkyries-repeat-wnba-champions-course-111612605.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"The Golden State Valkyries Should Be The Template For NBA Expansion","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/golden-state-valkyries-template-nba-113000286.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"‘We have effing unbreakable love’: how the maverick Natalie Nakase led the Valkyries to WNBA glory","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/effing-unbreakable-love-maverick-natalie-161048598.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Barack Obama and Donald Trump had very different reactions to WNBA Finals","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/barack-obama-donald-trump-had-180438369.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Valkyries crowned WNBA Champs with Game 7 win over Dream","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/valkyries-crowned-wnba-champs-game-185244717.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Even Valkyries owner Joe Lacob is amazed by his franchise already winning a championship in Year 2","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/even-valkyries-owner-joe-lacob-191259133.html"}],"image":{"url":"https://static01.nyt.com/athletic/uploads/wp/2026/11/01014003/GettyImages-2302932316-scaled-e1793511726592.jpg","credit":"The Athletic","width":2560},"embed":null,"license":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/","attribution":"Analysis data is licensed CC BY 4.0. Credit brokenews and link to the story page you took it from. Source headlines, story titles taken from a source headline, and quoted passages remain the property of their publishers and are quoted for comparison, not licensed onward.","terms":"https://www.brokenews.co/about#reuse"}