San Francisco (AP) – Draymond Green proudly delicates a Golden State Valkyries n ° 25 jersey, meaning the return of WNBA to Northern California in 2025.
The Warriors coach Steve Kerr regularly takes the podium for interviews with purple t-shirts of the extension franchise.
With a 5 -year prosecution center under the spotlight during NBA All-Star WeekendMany eyes are also on the female game. Caitlin Clark made the headlines To avoid participating. A’ja Wilson and other WNBA players make the headlines with their presence.
And yes, the new WNBA extension franchise which arrives at the bay is also well look during the stars weekend.
The Warriors Power Forward Gui Santos can feel the energy of the WNBA.
“You see the All-Star, you see the WNBA team to come and you see how the community of the bay region appreciates this, everyone looks at the teams,” said Santos, who had a Saturday broadcast concert with the NBA. “You have everything that goes at the same time, it’s very good for the bay region. The Warriors, the whole organization, are trying to help them, trying to ensure that all Golden State fans turn into Fans of Valkyries and we all want to be a whole because we represent the Bay region, we represent The people who live here. “”
WNBA players were not difficult to find, organizing seminars with Jr. Nba Kids, participating in a game of 2 against 2 and presenting their skills in the celebrity game. Sabrina Ionescu, originally from the Bay region Another shooting of Ionescu-Stephen in curry.
The Valkyries have unveiled their new locker room at the arena leading to the festivities.
Atlanta Hawks star Trae Young said it was hard to believe that there was not a WNBA team here earlier, given all the success of Golden State during the last Decade, when the Warriors won four NBA championships.
“This is one of the elite franchises in the league today, the NBA,” said Young. “It’s obvious to have a WNBA franchise here. I am already surprised that there is none.
While the timing coincides with the global growth of female sports, the longtime owner of Golden State, Joe Lacob, fell in love with women’s basketball when he looked at the 1996 Olympic team. He admired the Stanford’s renowned temple coach, Tara Vanderveer, leading the unbeaten Americans to the Gold Medal of Atlanta.
An original investor in the former American basketball league, Lacob has planned to bring a WNBA franchise here from the start – then once Chase Center opened in 2019, it has become an absolute priority.
The expansion team became official in October 2023.
“I want them to understand the opportunity they have to come and be historians,” said Valkyries Managing Director Ohemaa Nyanin Packed Pursuit Center, your whole experience will change. »»
The WNBA is back for the first time since the Sacramento monarchs fell after the 2009 season.
Earlier this month, the Valkyries unveiled their new 31,800 square feet training center in what was previously the Warriors training center in downtown Oakland.
The plan was always to find ways to honor the deep history of the Warriors while building something special from zero.
“We want them to feel that too,” said the president of Valkyries, Jess Smith. “Entering this organization by knowing the size around them who is there to help them in any way, form or form. … It is a really special place, and it will not be lost whatever the brand because of the story that took place here. “”
Even when coming from Brazil, Santos has an idea of the quantity of the San Francisco region likes women’s basketball.
“They will have a lot of support here,” he said. “Especially because the warriors in the past 10 years, they have made so much progress with this and now we have a lot of people who love basketball in the bay region, so it will not be different for the Valkyries . “
___
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba
