Right after an official WNBA welcome for Paige Bueckers in Dallas, the women’s basketball world extends another hand to a new team. The first-ever Golden State Valkyries game will also mark superstar point guard Kelsey Plum’s debut for the Los Angeles Sparks. Can an expansion team hold its own out of the gate? Is LA ready to turn a corner? We’ll find out together, up in The Bay on Friday night.
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How to watch Los Angeles Sparks at Golden State Valkyries
Golden State’s inaugural campaign is cast in sleek violet and black, though expectations will be modest until the franchise develops another draft class or two. The Valkyries faced the Sparks squad in a preseason exhibition earlier this month, yielding a surprisingly close one-point finish. Laeticia Amihere balled out in that game, finishing with a frantic 20 points in 19 bench minutes. She was the only player on the team to crack double-digit scoring.
LA tumbled through a disastrous 2024. It went 8-32, the worst mark in franchise history, but still missed out on the Bueckers sweepstakes. Cameron Brink tore her ACL and won’t be available until at least June. The vibes were decidedly off around one of the sport’s glamour franchises.
Enter Kelsey Plum, stage left. The Sparks dealt the No. 2 pick in this latest draft to reset with a three-time All-Star and two-time champ. Plum’s efficiency dipped a bit last season, but she’s still one of the game’s best distributors and a supremely fearless shot creator. She and fellow All-Star Dearica Hamby should form a flexible pick-and-roll duo. And Los Angeles will seek a sophomore surge from Rickea Jackson. She averaged 10 points in her first two months, then bumped it up to 16 per game in her last two.
Best player to wear both jerseys: Stephanie Talbot is the first and only one to do it. Golden State selected her from last year’s LA roster via the expansion draft.
Sabreena Merchant’s power rankings:
Los Angeles (No. 9) — “When Plum was introduced in Los Angeles after being traded from Las Vegas, she said she had ‘a lot more in the tank’ as a playmaker and planned to be top-five in the league in assists while playing more point guard. Coach Lynne Roberts’ system is fast paced, and if Plum and the Sparks play with tempo — she’s one of the best-conditioned players in the W — there will be opportunities for assists, especially in early offense.”
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Golden State (No. 11) — “Maybe this is a bit too reductive, but expansion teams historically struggle quite a bit. The last two teams to enter the league each won fewer than 15 percent of their games in Year 1, and Golden State has the lowest over-under (8.5 on BetMGM) of all 13 teams. I have more hope for Valkyries than some teams thanks to high-quality veterans such as Tiffany Hayes and Kayla Thornton, and young players like Laeticia Amihere looking to prove themselves in a new environment. This franchise has been explicit about its desire to be immediately competitive. The best way to measure that is in the win-loss column.”
Sparks at Valkyries odds
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(Photo of Kelsey Plum and Veronica Burton: Thearon W. Henderson / Getty Images)
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