Turning promises into prophecies — that's what Saturday's Game 7 was about.
Go back one year, and before the confetti had even hit the floor in Phoenix, Angel Reese had let it be known that she was "manifesting the Finals."
Yet even earlier and bolder than that was Joe Lacob's proclamation.
The owner of the Golden State Valkyries stated in 2023 that the expansion franchise would claim a title within its first five seasons.
And it may have taken overcoming cross-country travel, schedule conflicts, a star-studded opponent and the first-ever Game 7 in WNBA Finals history to make it happen, but the Valkyries did just that.
The 68-63 win over the Atlanta Dream cashed that record $50 million expansion-fee cheque Lacob wrote not so long ago, turned him into a prophet and brought the Valkyries their first WNBA championship in just Year 2 of existence.
How'd it all come together so fast? For a team without traditional star power or a high-scoring offense and just a second-year WNBA head coach?
Well, it took keeping one more promise.
"(We’re) punching first. It's a non-negotiable. We're coming out with physicality, a focused mindset," head coach Natalie Nakase told reporters pre-game. " ... We're dictating the first pass. We're dictating everything tonight."
And it's safe to say after opening the game on an 8-0 run, holding the Dream to 0-of-8 shooting and a five-and-a-half-minute scoreless drought, the bench boss's words were heeded. Even more so after Atlanta was held to just 33.3 per cent shooting for the game and over 17 points below its post-season scoring average.
But it also required one more thing, according to Gabby Williams.
"All it took was good people. All we heard last year was 'we don't have no stars, we don't have no talent.' Yeah, right? We have good people. We've got winners," said the Finals MVP post-game. "We've got people who are ready to put their bodies on the floor to win a game. They don't care about scoring. They just want to play defence and rebound and do whatever it takes. And we just built a beautiful culture here."
Golden State became the fastest franchise in major North American sports history to win it all. Faster than anyone expected, even Lacob.
And with that, consider the promise kept.
Game 7 Gabby
They call her "Spooky G," and it's safe to say Dream players will be seeing Williams in their nightmares for a long time.
After being kept relatively in check throughout the opening half on Saturday, scoring just two points on 1-of-4 shooting to offset her early positive play on the defensive end (three blocks), the soon-to-be Finals MVP flipped the switch come closing time.
Williams scored 28 points in the second half, which set a WNBA Finals record, doing so on 9-of-19 shooting from the field, 4-of-6 from deep and 6-of-6 from the free- throw line.
And all of it was needed.
The Valkyries spent the first 20 minutes of Game 7 trudging along offensively — reminding everyone why they had a bottom-three playoff offence — while scoring just 24 points on 9-of-30 shooting and relying on seven timely turnovers to stay within striking distance.
But once Nakase put the ball in Williams' hands, the star guard delivered. She first added 15 consecutive points in the third quarter, flipping the Valkyries' six-point halftime deficit into a 45-44 lead heading into the fourth — nailing back-to-back-to-back threes before drilling a fading turnaround from the left baseline to put Golden State back up.
She then tacked on 13 more points in the final frame, doing most of her damage by attacking downhill for layups or trips to the charity stripe.
But with William's affinity for Halloween (her "favourite" holiday), it was only right she had one more treat left in store for the 18,000 in attendance at "Ballhalla."
With the game tied at 57-57 and just two minutes to go, she opted to pull up from 31 feet and nailed the final of her four triples, sending the Chase Center into a frenzy and Golden State toward a title.
Her stout defence and on-court leadership would've been enough for recognition, but the Valkyries veteran had more to give when it mattered most. And with that, Williams took home Finals MVP for averaging 19.6 points, 3.6 rebounds, 2.6 steals and 2.7 assists through the seven-game series.
All the talk coming into the Finals was about a matchup of superstars vs. superteam. And in some ways that was true, considering the Valkyries became the first squad to win it all without a single all-WNBA selection on its roster. But make no mistake, no one shined brighter than Williams in Game 7.
Defence does, in fact, win championships
While the Valkyries offence found itself waxing and waning throughout the playoffs, whether they won or lost (including a five-minute drought in Game 7), the constant in their victories was an ability to turn off the tap on opponents' scoring. They were the No. 1 regular-season defence, after all.
Golden State held opponents to just 68.3 points in its playoff wins, which was nearly 20 points fewer than the league average in scoring this season (87.1). In the Finals, that number dropped even further to 61 points.
Between Nakase's aggressive adjustments — starting Kaila Charles later in the series to guard Rhyne Howard so Williams could roam around more freely — and Kiah Stokes (now a winner of four of the last five WNBA championships and affectionately dubbed the "Warden of Valcatraz") anchoring from the middle, the Valkyries were an immovable object most nights.
And when it mattered most, that identity came through.
The Dream were limited to just 19 points in the fourth quarter on 5-of-18 shooting and 1-of-8 from distance. All the while, the star trio of Howard, Reese and Allisha Gray was held to 4-of-10 shooting in the final frame. Reese didn't even attempt a shot in the fourth. Even Jordin Canada, who erupted for 23 first-half points, including 11 in the second quarter to single-handedly outscore the Valkyries, was limited to 0-of-3 shooting over the final 10 minutes of action.
All five of the Dream's lowest-scoring performances this season came against the Valkyries, four of which were in the Finals.
Had it not been for nine free throw attempts in the fourth quarter of Game 7, Atlanta's dreams likely would've been dashed even sooner.
Canadian content
Mississauga, Ont's Laeticia Amihere became just the second Canadian to win a WNBA championship, joining Tammy Sutton-Brown (Markham, Ont.), who did it with the Indiana Fever in 2012.
Amihere was in and out of the rotation during the Valkyries' post-season run but was deployed by Nakase in some high-leverage situations.
Four of her five playoff appearances came in the Finals, where she averaged 11 minutes and was primarily tasked with stepping in to defend Reese, like in Game 1 of the series, when Amihere helped keep the Dream star scoreless in the second half after her strong start.
The Canadian then logged 20 minutes in Game 6, putting up five points, 10 rebounds, a block and a steal.
Despite her limited minutes, Amihere will likely savour winning a title against the Dream, the franchise that drafted her eighth overall in 2023 but later waived her in 2025 before she joined the Valkyries.