Golden State Valkyries Celebrate WNBA Championship With SF Parade

Golden State Valkyries Celebrate WNBA Championship With SF Parade

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Thousands of fans in purple lined San Francisco’s Embarcadero on Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026, for the Golden State Valkyries’ championship parade — four days after the second-year franchise beat the Atlanta Dream 68-63 in Game 7 to capture the 2026 WNBA title at Chase Center.

Game 7 at Ballhalla: Williams delivers a 30-point clincher

The Valkyries closed the series on Halloween night, Oct. 31, with Gabby Williams named Finals MVP after scoring 30 points in the 68-63 win. Williams poured in 28 points in the second half of Game 7 — a WNBA Finals record — according to The Ringer.

Her surge came after a mid-series slump: Williams shot under 30% in both Games 2 and 3 and took a Game 1 collision with Atlanta’s Jordin Canada. NBC Sports reports she credited coach Natalie Nakase for the turnaround: I trust her with my life. I stayed patient.

The series turned earlier on defense. When Kiah Stokes volunteered to guard Atlanta star Angel Reese after the Valkyries fell behind 2-1, Reese shot just 33% from the field with Stokes on the floor, per Synergy data cited by The Ringer — and Stokes heard MVP chants from the Golden State crowd after Game 5.

Two seasons from expansion to champs

No team in major North American professional sports had ever won a championship this fast. The Valkyries debuted in 2024 after Joe Lacob paid a $50 million expansion fee, made the playoffs as an No. 8 seed in their inaugural 2025 season, and won the title in year two — without a single All-WNBA player on the roster, a first in league history, CBS Sports notes.

Head coach Natalie Nakase built the roster from castoffs. We’ve all been waived. We’ve been cut, she told The Ringer. Guard Tiffany Hayes, the reigning Sixth Player, was asked to take a leap of faith from the Las Vegas Aces, and the expansion draft netted three starters, including Veronica Burton, Kayla Thornton and Cecilia Zandalasini, per Yahoo Sports.

WNBA: OCT 31 Finals Atlanta Dream vs Golden State Valkyries
Photo: NBC Sports

The business side matched the on-court rise: the franchise became the first women’s sports team to exceed a $1 billion valuation and to generate over $100 million in annual revenue.

Wednesday’s celebration: Oakland rally, ferry, Embarcadero parade

The celebration spanned both sides of the bay. It opened with a rally on the Oakland waterfront at Jack London Square, where Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee — fresh off her reelection Tuesday — told the crowd, First, it was five years, they did it in two years, referencing Lacob’s pledge to deliver a title within half a decade. Lacob answered: I never thought we could do that within two, then added, The best is yet to come, of course.

The team then boarded ferries across the bay for a parade down the Embarcadero, where thousands lined the route from 9 a.m. Mayor Daniel Lurie kicked it off in a lilac shacket bearing Williams’ number 46, standing beside Williams as she banged the Valkyries drum. Coach Natalie Nakase high-fived supporters along the route before climbing onto the bus to throw gold beads, the Chronicle reports. The parade ran along the bay side of the Embarcadero from Mission Street to Second Street until 2 p.m., and the National Weather Service had forecast a sunny day with a high of 62.

Fans brought their own history to the route. Sisters Veronica Grace Flores of Millbrae and Berniedette Flores of South San Francisco wore purple sequined jackets — Veronica’s favorite color since grade school. Finally! Finally! Finally! she said of the Bay Area getting a women’s basketball team. It’s just really rewarding to see these girls, she added, per The Press Democrat.

Offseason flexibility: $3.2 million committed for 2027

With the trophy in hand, the Valkyries turn to a 2027 salary cap expected to rise above the $7 million it was in 2026 under the league’s new revenue-sharing model — while only $3.2 million in guaranteed money sits on their 2027 books, leaving room to pursue a max free agent such as Napheesa Collier, Jackie Young, Kelsey Mitchell or Kelsey Plum. Whether the formula Nakase used — castoffs, depth and defensive havoc, including series averages of 25-point halves and 32% shooting — can be repeated is the question other teams will now try to answer.

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