“This is what happens when you invest in women’s sports,” said Tiffany Hayes moments after the Golden State Valkyries won the 2026 WNBA Championship, defeating the Atlanta Dream, in the Valkyries’ second year in existence. Among the many firsts in this final series, Hayes may be the first WNBA player to come out of retirement to win a title. After announcing her retirement in December 2023, she was signed by the Las Vegas Aces the following May. That season, she was named WNBA Sixth Player of the Year. In 2025, she joined the Valkyries for the team’s inaugural season.
No team in the WNBA or NBA has ever won a championship in just its second season, but a team of assumed role players proved they were all superstars; none more than Gabby Williams, Finals MVP. Head coach Natalie Nakase became the first Asian American head coach to win an WNBA Championship. She may also have been the first coach to drop some colorful f-bombs on national television, and we love her for it.
It was the first WNBA Finals to go to seven games (the best-of-seven format debuted in 2025, but the Aces swept the Phoenix Mercury). There was outstanding viewership, even when game six was relegated to a 12:30 p.m. Eastern start time.
In what was probably her final public act as commissioner, Cathy Engelbert was again greeted by boos. She addressed the audience as “Boohalla,” a Halloween-inspired play on its now-iconic name of Ballhalla. While it was a reference to the game being played on October 31, one can’t help but wonder if Engelbert was addressing her critics. While she undoubtedly deserves credit for leading the league through a period of extraordinary growth, she fumbled again and again on multiple issues in the fourth quarter of her tenure, most notably addressing issues of racism faced by the players.
Now, the WNBA’s first year under the new collective bargaining agreement has drawn to a close. Players are compensated in a manner that reflects the wildest dreams of those who laid the foundation for this league, such as Lisa Leslie, Cynthia Cooper, Teresa Weatherspoon, and Sheryl Swoopes.
Swoopes played a huge role in this year’s 30th anniversary celebration. All season long, there were moments honoring the WNBA’s incredible history and legacy. Unfortunately, there was no recognition that I have heard of for journalists who showed up through the early excitement and throughout the lean years when teams played before half-empty arenas. Some of us believed and kept WNBA coverage front and center while others wrote op/eds calling for the league’s demise. I’m hoping the impending new leadership acknowledges those who invested in the league with our coverage.
The league continues to make significant news — it was announced on Tuesday that the New York Liberty fired head coach Chris DeMarco after only one season at the helm.
DeMarco replaced Sandy Brondello, who led the Liberty to the franchise’s first WNBA title in 2024 but was not offered a contract extension by team owners Clara Wu Tsai and husband Joe Tsai — who also own the Brooklyn Nets — and general manager Jonathan Kolb after a disappointing 2025 campaign. The Liberty went 27-17 but were eliminated by the 27-17 Phoenix Mercury 2-1 in the first round of playoffs.
Coming into this past season, the Liberty were heavy favorites to reach the WNBA Finals. However, they ended an injury-plagued season as the No. 8 seed and were knocked out by the No. 4 seed Atlanta Dream 3-0 in the semifinals of the playoffs.
