The Valkyries’ first season was good. Minnesota showed them how to be great

SAN JOSE – Once Lynx guard Courtney Williams rose through the electrified playoff air at SAP Center late in the fourth quarter Monday night, nothing the Valkyries had done in the teams’ WNBA playoff game mattered.

Natalie Nakase’s tactical brilliance? Negated. 

The delirious crowd who had migrated 47 miles from San Francisco to San Jose? Helplessly watching. 

The league-leading Golden State defense, which had held teams to a WNBA-low 76.3 points per game? Unable to do a darn thing against the best team in the league in the Valkyries’ 75-74 season-ending loss.

“That’s just her money shot,” Minnesota’s Kayla McBride said. “That’s just who Courtney is … she made a big-time play.”

Because that is what stars do. They make plays out of nothing, win games with individual brilliance, deliver in key moments against good teams. 

And that is something the Valkyries just did not have in the playoffs, in their Game 1 blowout in Minnesota, or the heartbreaker in the South Bay.

Golden State had a joyous and wildly successful first season, one that exceeded even the loftiest of expectations. A 23-21 record in the regular season, after being predicted to finish at the bottom of the league by betting sites and most analysts.

And yet, the expansion Valkyries still learned a bitter lesson after dropping their two playoff games against top-seeded Minnesota. 

Stars matter. They really, really matter. 

MVP frontrunner Napheesa Collier made 6 of 8 second-half shots, burying jumper after jumper en route to 24 points. McBride dropped in backbreaking floaters. Williams provided the midrange dagger. 

“Obviously, it’s a really tough way to go out when we had the lead the majority of the game,” Golden State guard Veronica Burton said.

Burton was the Most Improved Player, a wonderful floor general whose rags-to-riches story from expansion draft castoff to team leader exemplifies the Valkyries’ modus operandi.

Cecilia Zandalasini – missed final shot be darned – was a talented shotmaker who Nakase compared to NBA stars such as Kobe Bryant and Steph Curry.

 Monique Billings, Kate Martin, Iliana Rupert and others picked up the slack after Tiffany Hayes and All-Star Kayla Thornton were lost for the season with knee injuries. All were found by general manager Ohemaa Nyanin.

Kaila Charles, the castoff from bottomfeeder Dallas, became a starter who bought into Golden State’s system, another symbol of Nakase’s plug-and-play method. 

“We were ranked 13th to start the season,” Charles told the Bay Area News Group when describing the chip many players shouldered in the 14-team league. 

Those gritty Valkyries are undeniably effective and able to overwhelm many teams in the regular season with a rotation that boasted 11 players all capable of playing a role.

But to be great, more is required if Golden State is to achieve the goal that every member of the organization is acutely aware of. 

“We have to win a championship in five years, and I love that challenge,” Nakase said. 

And in the postseason, when rotations shrink and scouting reports reveal every small weakness, championships are not won with numbers.

They are won with overwhelming talent. 

If the Valkyries are banking on player development, 21-year-old guard Carla Leite flashed as a fearless driver as a rookie guard. And 19-year-old Justė Jocytė, the No. 5 pick in this spring’s draft, is expected to come over next season after spending this season in Europe. 

She is a smooth-scoring wing who has been lauded for her bucket-getting ability. 

And fortunately, with the Collective Bargaining Agreement expiring after the season and the vast majority of the league’s players entering free agency, the Valkyries have a prime opportunity to go star-hunting if they don’t want to place all of their eggs in the basket of a player who cannot legally drink yet. 

Walnut Creek’s Sabrina Ionescu and Nakase’s old Las Vegas star A’ja Wilson are both set to hit the open market.

Perhaps if the Valkyries had that singular type of talent, they would not have squandered that 14-point lead in the fourth quarter. 

Or lost three consecutive games to end the regular season with a chance to improve their playoff seeding and avoid Minnesota. 

Instead, Golden State learned a valuable lesson. 

The Valkyries are good. But they’ve got a ways to go to be great.