The Golden State Valkyries probably didn’t expect to be a playoff team in their first year of existence. Now they might not be able to host their playoff game if they get in.
After a four-game win streak, the Valkyries sit in 6th place, one game ahead of the Seattle Storm. With four games to go, they’re 2.5 games ahead of the 9th place Los Angeles Sparks. Eight of the WNBA’s 13 teams makes the playoffs.
This year, the WNBA adopted a 1-1-1 format for the best-of-three first round, which would guarantee
that each playoff team gets a home game. Every team except for the Valkyries.
The Valkyries can’t move into the top four of the standings, so if they get into the playoffs, they’ll be hosting the second game on Tuesday, Sept. 16 or Wednesday, Sept. 17. That’s two or three days before the start of the Laver Cup, an international tennis tournament taking place Sept. 19-21, with a practice day on the 18th. Since arena officials have to convert the facility from basketball to tennis, there’s a strong chance the Valkyries will have to leave “Ballhalla” for a different location.
The team acknowledged the issue in a statement to SFGate:
“Due to Chase Center hosting Laver Cup, a global tennis tournament, which was booked prior to Golden State’s acquisition of the Golden State Valkyries, we are navigating potential venue impacts if the Valkyries were to make a historic playoff run in their inaugural season,” the statement reads. “Our primary goal is to ensure the best possible experience for our fans and athletes. At this point, with so much uncertainty in potential playoff seeding and Playoff game dates, we do not yet know what if/any impact this will have on Valkyries home games.
“The energy at Chase Center has made Ballhalla what it is: the toughest home court advantage in the WNBA. While we navigate the potential arena impacts for the postseason, the anticipation for WNBA Playoff basketball in the Bay Area is palpable. This fan base continues to fuel our team, and is a driving force behind such a historic first season.”
There are a few options available for the evicted Valkyries. There’s the Oakland Arena, the former “Roaracle,” which was used for different basketball events at NBA All-Star Weekend this year, including the Celebrity Game and the All-Star practice. That move seems like the simplest, though the SAP Center in San Jose, the home of the Golden State Warriors in the 1996-97 season, AKA Todd Fuller’s rookie year (he was drafted at No. 11, ahead of picks 13-15: Kobe Bryant, Peja Stojakovic, and Steve Nash). They’re also reportedly considering the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, though Oakland seems like the best choice for Valkyries fans, since it’s not a 90-minute drive from their home arena.
Should the Valkyries advance, they’d likely avoid any tennis conflict in the best-of-five second round. They’d be unlikely to end up the higher seed, so their next home game wouldn’t come until Friday, Sept. 26.
The problem is that the Warriors scheduled the Laver Cup before they even knew they’d have a WNBA team at all, much less the most popular and profitable team in the league. The downside is that the Valkyries won’t get to enjoy the same home-court advantage that’s made them 13-7 at Chase Center.
But if they hang on and make it, the best move is clearly the Oakland Arena. After all, that’s a place the Warriors pulled off some huge upsets as lower seeds themselves. If they relocate, and get out of the first round, the Valkyries should invite Dirk Nowitzki to come back and punch a wall again.
