Gaby Williams Leads Golden State Valkyries to WNBA Championship

By the Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net

Gaby Williams secured a WNBA championship following her silver medal victory with the French national team at the Paris Olympics.

Before a crowd of 18.000 spectators, Williams contributed 30 points, 28 of which were scored in the second half, to propel Golden State to the WNBA title as the Valkyries defeated the Atlanta Dream 68-63 in the league’s inaugural Game 7 of the championship series.

Within just two seasons, the WNBA expansion franchise managed to capture the championship title.

“All we heard last year, ‘We don’t have no stars, we don’t have no talent.’ Yeah, right,” Williams told the USA Network broadcast after being named Finals MVP. “We’ve got good people. We’ve got winners. We have people who are ready to put their bodies on the floor to win a game. … We just build a beautiful culture here.”

No member of the Valkyries roster was selected to the All-WNBA team, including Williams, who established her reputation through her performances in Europe during the WNBA offseason.

With a career average of fewer than 10 points, Williams recorded three 25-point games in the series, tying for the most in a single Finals in WNBA history.

In Game 7, she also recorded four blocks, three rebounds, two steals, and two assists on her path to winning the Finals MVP award.

“I want to focus on people who believed in me the whole time,” Williams said. “There were a lot of people who believed in us and believed in me as well. It started with us believing in each other and that’s so special.”