Valkyries' Natalie Nakase reveals when Golden State will be WNBA champions

Jeremy Beren

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Valkyries' Natalie Nakase reveals when Golden State will be WNBA champions image

David Gonzales-Imagn Images

The Golden State Valkyries' inaugural WNBA season is over -- but what a ride it was.

Not expected to contend for a playoff spot as the WNBA's first expansion franchise in nearly two decades, the Valkyries stunned the league by qualifying for the postseason as the eighth and final seed. Though Golden State let a 17-point lead slip in Wednesday's season-ending loss to the top-seeded Minnesota Lynx, head coach Natalie Nakase -- named WNBA Coach of the Year on Wednesday -- believes this is only beginning of a new era, one bathed in Valkyries violet. 

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Speaking to reporters after the Lynx defeated the Valkyries 75-74 at SAP Center in San Jose, Nakase revealed Golden State's goal, passed down from owners Joe Lacob and Peter Guber: become WNBA champions within five years.

"I wanted to win this year," Nakase said. "So to me, I’m disappointed myself. I can’t wait for next season."

Guber and Lacob bought the Golden State Warriors in 2010; five years later, the Warriors were NBA champions, and they added three more titles to their trophy cabinet in 2017, 2018 and 2022. The Valkyries may well be poised to follow a similar trajectory after boasting the league's Coach of the Year, its Most Improved Player in Veronica Burton and one of the most passionate home crowds in The W.

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Jeremy Beren

Jeremy Beren is a freelance WNBA writer with The Sporting News. A Phoenix native, he is a graduate of Arizona State University's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, and he has a decade’s worth of sports journalism experience. Jeremy's work has appeared in publications such as Marca, SB Nation, Athlon Sports and Vice Sports. He currently lives in Fayetteville, Arkansas.