SAN FRANCISCO — The rain was supposed to come. It didn’t. The sun came out over the Embarcadero on Wednesday, and so did the Bay.
The Golden State Valkyries, champions of the WNBA in only their second season, rode violet open-top buses from the Ferry Building to Oracle Park while fans packed the waterfront, chanting “GSV” and holding up anything violet they owned. TSN put the crowd at nearly 40,000.
The players sprayed champagne. Drank beer. At the last stop, they climbed down off the buses and into the crowd, posing for pictures and thanking people one by one.
It started in Oakland
The day began across the water with a kickoff rally at Jack London Square. Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee was there. The team posed with the trophy, and East Bay fans boarded a ferry to make the parade in San Francisco.
On the other side, Mayor Daniel Lurie spoke, and Rep. Nancy Pelosi waved to the crowd. Laeticia Amihere carried the trophy. Kaitlyn Chen handed a bottle of champagne to a fan.
How they got here
The Valkyries beat the Atlanta Dream 68-63 in Game 7 on Saturday. Gabby Williams scored 30, with 28 of them in the second half, a WNBA record for points in a playoff half. She was named Finals MVP. Kiah Stokes set a Finals record for blocks. Tiffany Hayes won it against the team she played 10 seasons for.
Coach Natalie Nakase became the first Asian American head coach to win a WNBA title. No basketball expansion team in the league has won one faster.
The people on the curb
Lie Crescini flew in from Hawaii and had her spot by 7:30 a.m. The team, she said, is like “having 18,000 new family members that you actually like.”
Marc Staudenbaur kept his two daughters out of school and brought them in from Pacifica. Team sports, he said, bring out “a special type of unity.” Plenty of kids skipped class. Nobody seemed to mind.
Hayes said it after the win, and the parade backed her up. Invest in women’s sports and this is what you get. The Valkyries, she said, are “not going anywhere.”
This report draws on KQED, Yahoo Sports and TSN.
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