Golden State's second-year surge is the WNBA story we should all be paying attention to

The best WNBA story nobody is talking about enough

Somewhere between the Caitlin Clark highlights, the Angel Reese double-doubles and the off-court circus acts involving former NBA players in novelty T-shirts, something genuinely remarkable has been happening on the west coast. The Golden State Valkyries - a franchise that did not exist three years ago - are sitting at the top of the WNBA standings and heading into the playoffs as favourites. In their second season. Second.

Let that settle for a moment.

Expansion teams are not supposed to do this

The modern template for a WNBA expansion franchise is simple: lose plenty, stockpile draft picks, build patiently, and hope the pieces click by year four or five. Golden State apparently did not read the manual. Twenty-three wins in their inaugural season was already ahead of schedule. Sitting first overall with the postseason tipping off on 27 September is something else entirely.

What makes it more impressive is how they got here. The Valkyries traded Flau'jae Johnson at the draft - a move that raised eyebrows across the league - and somehow got better. Veronica Burton and Kayla Thornton have been the heartbeat, Gabby Williams has added a layer of two-way quality since arriving, and Janelle Salaun is making a genuine case for Sixth Player of the Year. That is not a roster built on one star's shoulders. It is a roster built on fit, identity and depth - the three things expansion teams usually lack most.

The fair pushback

Regular-season supremacy is not a trophy. We have watched enough WNBA campaigns to know that the team sitting first in late August is not always the one lifting the Commissioner's Cup - sorry, the championship trophy - in October. The playoff format - best-of-three in the first round, best-of-five in the semis, best-of-seven in the finals - rewards depth, experience and composure under sustained pressure. Golden State's roster is deep. Whether it is battle-hardened enough for a seven-game war remains the open question.

And there are proven contenders lurking. The Las Vegas Aces, even without the injured NaLyssa Smith, have championship DNA stitched into every lineup. Indiana's Clark-Mitchell combination is capable of outscoring anyone on a given night. Atlanta, freshly armed with DeWanna Bonner, have a frontcourt that can bully opponents on the glass.

But dismissing what Golden State have built would be a mistake

The Valkyries' rise is not a fluke of scheduling or a soft-conference mirage. They are first overall in a league that has never been deeper or more competitive. The 2026 WNBA features 30th-anniversary-level attention, record viewership and a talent pool that runs eight or nine deep in every roster. Topping that table requires sustained excellence, not a lucky streak.

What strikes me most is the culture. Expansion franchises typically spend their early seasons searching for an identity - trying on different styles like outfits in a changing room. Golden State arrived with one already fitted. Defence-first, share the ball, trust the bench. It sounds simple because it is. Executing it with a group of players who had never shared a locker room before last year is anything but.

September will tell us who they really are

The regular season wraps up on 24 September. Three days later, the first round begins. If the Valkyries hold their position, they will have home-court advantage throughout - a significant edge for a franchise whose fan base has embraced them with a fervour that even the most optimistic projections underestimated.

Golden State may yet fall short. The playoffs are a different animal, and the Valkyries have never been in this position before. But that is precisely why this story deserves more oxygen. A second-year expansion team, top of the league, built on depth rather than a single superstar. It is the kind of narrative women's basketball should be shouting about.

If the Valkyries win a title this autumn, we will all pretend we saw it coming. The truth is, almost nobody did - and that is what makes it so good.