I believe, like me, many of you haven’t been to Ballhalla. But the first words that come to mind are “deafening roars.” I mean, you can feel the energy through the television screen, see the packed arena, the sea of lavender, a crowd rallying behind a team that wasn’t even here a year ago and now leads the league in attendance. So when Ballhalla shifted 45 miles south of San Francisco for the playoffs, Kate Martin (and the entire team) had no doubt it would still feel like home.
But before we get to that, in case, you ain’t familiar with the Valks fan craze. Let us tell you that Golden State had 15,000 season-ticket deposits before they even drafted a single player. Jess Smith, the team’s president, put it best, “This fan base acts as if we’ve been here for 30 years.” Can we even deny that? And their team did live up to that hype, becoming the first expansion team to punch a playoff ticket. But sad that Chase Center won’t get its first-ever WNBA playoff game.
The playoff showdown is headed to San Jose’s SAP Center as the Chase Center is turning into a tennis stage for the Laver Cup this weekend. Golden State president Brandon Schneider said they looked into every possible way to make it work at Chase. But logistics just didn’t click.
Still, the vibes inside the locker room? Oh, they’re nothing but positive. Martin was confident saying, “Excited to play, another opportunity, I know our fans travel well and like I said, Ballhalla is a mentality. I saw someone comment that somewhere, I can’t take credit for that.” She added, “Our crowd is going to be fantastic. It’s still our home court. We’re just treating it as Ballhalla.”
She’s not alone. Coach Natalie Nakase is totally unbothered too. Her take was simple: San Jose is still the Bay, so the Valkyries are still home. Even Veronica Burton, who just snagged that 2025 Most Improved Player award, backed it up. “We have faith in our fans that they’re going to continue to show out for us. Wherever we play, we’re going to bring our basketball.”
Now, sure, Ballhalla has already built a rep across the sports world, so moving a playoff game hit a nerve. But it’s not like the Valks are the first ones. WNBA history is full of teams getting bumped for concerts, ice shows, you name it. The league just comes with those unique little curveballs. Here’s the cool part though.
Golden State’s making sure it still feels like home. They’re literally transporting the entire Chase Center court to SAP Center. Boards, paint, everything. Since SAP’s a hockey arena anyway, a basketball floor needed to be laid down no matter what, but bringing Ballhalla’s floor with them? That’s next-level home court energy.
Here’s the first look at it:
Still, the true “home” isn’t the hardwood, it’s the fans. And after 22 straight sellouts and an all-time attendance record, that’s the least of their worries. What is a problem though? Stopping the mighty Lynx. The top seed smacked them 101-72 in Game 1, and now it’s do-or-die time. But if you ask Coach Nakase? She’ll tell you officiating didn’t exactly do them any favors last time. And that jab even resulted in a punishment for her.
Nakase stands firm despite getting fined by the league
The Valkyries’ playoff debut pretty much went the way most people expected. Golden State came out swinging, even took an early lead in the first quarter, but that didn’t last long. The top seed took control and never looked back. By the end of the night, it was a 29-point blowout.
But the part that had everyone talking was head coach Nakase wasn’t about to just take that loss quietly. After the game, she stepped up to the mic, visibly frustrated, and let the officials have it. “All of a sudden, the fouls get called consecutively… if the fouls are getting called when we’re on a run and it shifts the momentum… At one point, it was 11-0 on free throws, so it’s hard to keep a flow of a game like that going.”
She even picked up a technical during the game for arguing with the refs, and postgame, she doubled down. “I want a fair fight. I really do. I want a clean fight, but I love the fact that both teams are playing their hearts out. They’re fighting. But I would like it to be fair.” Now, if you check the box score, it doesn’t look totally one-sided. The Lynx finished with 23 fouls and 24 free throws, while the Valkyries had 22 fouls and 27 attempts. But Nakase was talking about the second quarter when Minnesota had 11 trips to the line compared to Golden State’s single attempt.
And yes, that was the same quarter the Lynx outscored them 26-12. So understandable where she is coming from. Now, fast forward to SAP Center, ahead of a must-win Game 2, and Nakase wasn’t walking anything back. She admitted she’d been fined for those comments but shrugged it off in true Nakase fashion.
“I said what I said,” she told reporters. “I’m always going to fight for my team when I feel that. The calls were the calls, and I got fined. So, you know, throwing in that donation, or whatever it is. So I paid for it, and I’m going to donate that. I heard it was a tax write-off.”
So, yes, what’s done is done. The Valkyries aren’t crying over Game 1 anymore. They know their backs are against the wall, and the only thing that matters now is how they show up in Game 2. The question is…..can they force game OT, or is this playoff run about to be over?