Valkyries newcomer Gabby Williams sees a lot to like about her team
Once, she came to Chase as a fan to watch her partner Marine Johannes play for the New York Liberty. It was fun.
On Saturday, Williams was back at Chase, this time as the star free agent acquisition of the Golden State Valkyries as they played a preseason game. It was thrilling.
"I remember it being really, really hard to play here as an opponent and that makes you want to be the other team," said Williams, who arrived in town on Friday and spent Saturday on the bench in street clothes. "I know what this environment is, so I'm really, really excited to see it as the home player."
And the Valkyries are really, really excited to get the 2025 All-Star forward out on the court.
"We see it as a perfect fit," coach Natalie Nakase said.
For Williams, the last two weeks have been a whirlwind. On April 19, the professional team she plays for in Istanbul, Fenerbahce, clinched the EuroLeague women's championship. A week earlier, she made her decision to sign as a free agent with the Valkyries, something that general manager Ohemaa Nyanin learned very early in the morning in California. She waited a few hours before waking up Nakase with a phone call.
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Nakase already had positive vibes about their chances. The night before the decision was due, Nakase felt so good about Williams that she told Nyanin she was going to uncork a magnum of Caymus wine that she had been saving for the celebration.
"I broke it out early because I felt so good," said Nakase, who saved most of the wine to drink with the front office after the news was official.
Williams, 10 hours ahead in Istanbul, was sitting on her news until the team released it.
"I was just holding in my excitement," she said.
After adding another accolade to her international résumé, the WNBA All-Star packed up and then flew from Turkey back home to Reno, where she grew up. On Friday, she collected her cat, Halle Barry, and drove down to the Bay Area. When she arrived at Chase Center she was greeted with a welcome message on the big screen in the plaza outside.
"I got here yesterday morning and had the best day ever," she said Saturday. "It was just the coolest, coolest thing ever."
Part of what made it so cool was that her family was there to celebrate with her. Williams' Bay Area ties run deep. Her extended family lives in Oakland and she spent summers playing AAU ball for the Bay Area Bulldawgs and the Mission Rec Center Rebels. Her little brothers go to Cal State East Bay and her younger sister played a year at Cal.
"My brothers are still here, living 15 minutes away, and that hasn't happened in 14 or 15 years," Williams said. "So it's really special."
She and her family members, along with her AAU coach Alfonso Joo, posed for a photo in front of Chase, commemorating the start of this new chapter in Williams' career.
"Knowing what women's basketball means to the Bay Area and what it has meant for decades, I know up close and personal exactly what it means to be a female athlete here," she said. "So that definitely played into my decision."
Williams, 29, was drawn to the Valkyries' winning culture.
"Even though this is a newer team, I strongly believe and feel the competitiveness and the want to win here," Williams said. "In my free agency meeting, all we kind of talked about was how we're going to win games.
"And the culture off the court, which plays a huge factor into what happens on the court. Just seeing from the outside what it looks like to be on this team, that was something I really, really need right now and want to be a part of."
Williams, one of the best two-way players in the league, thinks her game fits the way the Valkyries want to play.
"The coaches, the staff, I like the way their brain works," she said. "It works like mine. It feels like that system that I would play well in, a bit European, very tactical. The ball moves, everybody eats, that's the kind of basketball I want to play."
Williams already has chemistry with Iliana Rupert and Janelle Salaun, her teammates on the French national team, who have yet to arrive in camp.
"I'm watching Iliana get better every day and I'm excited because I know her really well and I know what works well for her, so bringing that from Europe to the WNBA will be part of my role," Williams said. "I like to create for others."
The Valkyries' lone preseason game - which they won 78-76 - came against Williams' former team, Seattle. That's not the only tie between the teams. Seattle and Golden State made big news with their trade on draft night, when the Valkyries selected LSU's Flau'jae Johnson and immediately sent her to the Storm, for a package that included the No. 16 pick, which they used to draft Marta Suarez.
Johnson was as surprised as everyone else: one minute she was holding up a violet jersey and the next she was headed to the Northwest.
"Oh definitely," Johnson said before the game. "But I'm excited. I'm glad how things went because I'm definitely meant to be in Seattle."
The Valkyries fans gave her a big round of applause. But they saved their loudest cheers for their own.
Last season, Williams learned first hand what Chase Center energy means. First, as an opposing player and, then, as a fan.
"Seeing the fan experience … was so cool," she said. "You know, this is what creates dynasties. Having a franchise that thinks about every detail, every nook and cranny, in order to make the experience better for everyone."
Five minutes before the game tipped off, Williams' stats were posted on the jumbotron and the crowd started cheering. Then the camera found her, and the cheers got louder. Williams looked up, surprised, realized what was happening, and put her hands up in acknowledgement.
She's one of theirs now.
April 25, 2026
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Ann Killion
Sports Columnist
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This story was originally published April 26, 2026 at 2:12 AM.