On Saturday, the Golden State Valkyries and the Atlanta Dream each begin the hunt for their franchise’s first WNBA championship.
The higher-seeded Valkyries are just two years old with a perfect record of making the post-season and are already historic as the fastest expansion group to reach the finals.
The Dream have been in this position four times — including most recently in 2013 — over their 18 years of existence, but have yet to wear a ring.
But by Halloween at the latest, one of these two clubs will earn their first banner.
The Valkyries and Dream weren’t expected to be the last duo standing. But their domination to this point tells an interesting story about what WNBA success in 2026 looks like. In this iteration of the playoffs, post-season experience played less of a role, defensive-minded teams took over, and long-term WNBA head coaches struggled.
On the way to the top, the Dream took down the 2024 champs in a three-game sweep, while the Valkyries handled the back-to-back champion Aces with a sweep of their own.
With all this in mind, here’s everything you need to know before the 3:30 p.m. ET tip-off on Saturday.
Season series: Valkyries won 3-0
June 24: Valkyries 77, Dream 66
June 26: Valkyries 78, Dream 75
July 4: Valkyries 88 - Dream 83
Finals schedule
Game 1: Dream at Valkyries (Saturday, Oct. 17, 3:30 p.m. ET)
Game 2: Dream at Valkyries (Monday, Oct. 19, 8 p.m. ET)
Game 3: Valkyries at Dream (Wednesday, Oct. 21, 8 p.m. ET)
Game 4: Valkyries at Dream (Saturday, Oct. 24, 1 p.m. ET)
Game 5: Dream at Valkyries (Monday, Oct. 26, 8 p.m. ET)*
Game 6: Valkyries at Dream (Thursday, Oct. 29, 8 p.m. ET)*
Game 7: Dream at Valkyries (Saturday, Oct. 31, 8 p.m. ET)*
*if necessary
X-Factors
Dream: Angel Reese
As the biggest star left in the playoffs, Angel Reese brings her stardom to the court in dominant defensive play and reliable scoring, but her fame extends her reach beyond just the basketball fan. Whether it’s because people love her, or because they love to hate her, Reese captures an audience every time she suits up. It doesn’t matter if they’re there to count her rebounds or make an argument about ‘mebounds,’ the young star feeds off the added energy. In a league ripe with competitive personalities, Reese is best known for how she shows off that fire and uses her competitiveness to level up her teammates. For her first time in the finals, expect her competitive nature to reach a new level.
But, her skill doesn’t just come in the form of intangibles. Reese averaged a double-double and won Defensive Player of the Year for her dominance on the boards. At six-foot-four with 16.4 points and 14.1 rebounds per game, Reese is a big threat for the Valkyries to contend with. Plus, after surviving the madness in March 2023, Reese became an NCAA national champion, meaning she knows how to rise to big moments.
Valkyries: Gabby Williams
Gabby Williams is a threat from all directions. She led the team in scoring with 14.3 points per game in the regular season and has upped her contributions in the post-season to now average 22.7. She is shooting 40.5 per cent from the three and 44.9 from the field over this playoff run and has played more minutes per game than any of her teammates with an average of 31.2.
On the defensive end, Williams is equally as consequential. She helps define the Valkyries’ defensive identity. The 30-year-old forward finished up as the runner-up to Reese in Defensive Player of the Year voting and was named to the 2026 WNBA All-Defensive First Team on Thursday.
Williams is exactly who the Valkyries need her to be every time they need her to be it. Adaptability and a team-first mentality have been staples throughout her career. Playing whatever role her team needed was something she mentioned on her draft night when she went fourth overall in 2018, and again something she brought to Golden State when she chose the franchise as her home as a free agent last off-season.
How does coaching stack up?
Natalie Nakase is a special coach. In the Valkyries inaugural season she reinvented what success can look like for an expansion group and earned Coach of the Year honours on her way to the playoffs. In her second season as a head coach, she built on that to reach the finals.
Nakase’s dedication to the craft can’t be questioned. It shows in the hours she spends preparing and planning, even to a fault. In the first round, she fell to her knees and collapsed on the floor in the middle of Game 3 against the Dallas Wings. When she was helped up, however, it wasn’t to take her off the floor. Nakase immediately returned to the bench ready to draw up a play. After that game, she was looked at by doctors and told the occurrence was a result of overworking, but that she was cleared to keep coaching.
Collapsing mid-game is not the defining mark of a good coach, and by no means should be aspirational, but how her team responded to that moment and the level of buy-in they’ve reciprocated to her all season is.
Nakase has already done impressive, near-impossible things. Why can’t taking a toddler franchise all the way be next?
Behind the other bench is Karl Smesko. He has been a WNBA head coach for two years, both with this Dream team, and prior to his hiring in November 2024, had never coached at the professional level. His 23 years at the Florida Gulf Coast cannot be overlooked though. In his first year in Atlanta, he helped accomplish a feat that hadn’t been reached since 2018: a winning record.
The Dream entered the finals as winners of all five of their playoff games. Should the Valkyries hand them their first lost, Smesko will be stretched to a new task, helping his group overcome adversity and bounce back.
Will flash beat out composure?
Atlanta is loaded with snazzy three-point shooting guards, strong defenders and the big light likes of Bayou Barbie. Being flashy is important to the Dream’s brand of basketball. And in the finals, there’s something powerful about being able to embrace and welcome the atmosphere, not cower under its glow. If Atlanta can lean into the moment and let it energize their typical style of play they could unlock another level.
The Valkyries, despite playing every home game this season in front of a sold-out crowd of 18 000 fans, are most comfortable when relaxed and composed. When facing the dynastic Aces, the Valkyries refused to focus on the giant that lay ahead, instead Nakase preached a mindset of “complete composure and connectivity.” It worked against five-time MVP A’ja Wilson and now, as the inexperienced group rises to the biggest stage, they’ll need to draw on that mindset again.
Whose defence is superior?
Of the 10 players named to the 2026 WNBA All-Defensive First and Second teams, six of them will be playing in the WNBA Finals, three on each side.
Obviously, defence is what brought the Dream and Valkyries to this final destination, and stops will play a major role in getting to that fourth and final win. Golden State has a slightly higher defensive efficiency at 0.956, while Atlanta is just below them for second in league rankings with 0.994, meaning the Valkyries give up fewer points per 100 possessions.
