Gabby Williams grew up with deep roots in the Bay Area through family and early basketball. At just nine, Williams’ childhood coach, Alfonso Joo, helped her develop her game further, calling her “special” from day one. Now, more than two decades later, Williams has led a Bay Area franchise to its first WNBA championship in just its second season of existence as the Finals MVP. It has been a full-circle journey for the Golden State Valkyries star forward, who just received an icing-on-the-cake recognition from her current head coach, Natalie Nakase.
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“To me, the MVP is the Finals MVP. That means you gotta play through the playoffs. You got to grind. You got to go through a seven-game series. Like, she’s the most valuable player in the world. Hands down. Good job, Gabby,” the 2025 WNBA Coach of the Year told Williams at the postgame press conference, per the Valkyries’ YouTube channel.
While the WNBA awards a regular season MVP and a Finals MVP, Nakase believes the latter is more prestigious, which makes sense considering the path the Valkyries and Williams powered through to even reach the Finals in the first place. The Valkyries started off their postseason journey winning 2-1 against Paige Bueckers’ Dallas Wings. Williams was at her best, scoring 75 points combined in the three games.
Next came the previous reigning champions, the Las Vegas Aces, who had five-time MVP A’ja Wilson in their arsenal. This is where the Valkyries showed the world why they finished as the No. 2 seed in the regular season, ahead of the third-seeded Aces. They swept Wilson and company 3-0 to reach their first WNBA Finals in just their second season. With 25, 20, and 16 points in three games, Williams finally conquered her kryptonite.
This is the road Williams had to go down to even be considered for Finals MVP, and she had seven more games to prove her worth to the media panel of sportswriters and broadcasters voting for the award against Angel Reese’s Atlanta Dream. Williams was the Valkyries’ marquee signing ahead of the 2026 WNBA season, and safe to say, she has more than fulfilled her duties.
The 30-year-old upped her game in the Finals, averaging 19.6 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 2.7 assists, according to StatMuse. Ahead of Game 7, both Williams and Reese were the big favorites for Finals MVP, and it came down to which team would win. Williams saved the best for last, scoring 30 points on 10-of-23 shooting, four blocks, three rebounds, two assists, and two steals in Game 7 to lead the Valkyries to a 68-63 win.
Meanwhile, it was a forgetful Game 7 for Reese, who scored just eight points on 3-of-7 shooting in 33 minutes. Williams scored only two points in the first half, but she later revealed a simple message from coach Nakase that changed her approach going into the second.
Nat told me to stay patient. I trust her with my life,” Williams said about Nakase after the game. “I stayed patient.”
Game 7 at Chase Center was packed, with several Golden State Warriors stars like Draymond Green, rookie Yaxel Lendeborg, and Will Richard. While 2022 NBA Finals MVP Steph Curry could not make it to Ballhalla, he took time to congratulate Williams on her first Finals MVP.
“Another one for the Bay! Congrats to the entire @valkyries squad and @gabbywilliams on WNBA Finals MVP! Big time!” The four-time NBA champion wrote on his Instagram story, with a photo of himself and Williams. The Valkyries star reposted the story, adding a teary-eyed face and a heart emoji.
“It was awesome. She looked just like Steph Curry in my opinion,” Lendeborg saw glimpses of Curry in Williams’ Game 7 performance. “That last game, it was like, first half I think she had 6 points, then you come out second half and you just score, like what, 20+ points right away. Like three back-to-back threes. It was awesome seeing it, and like, it got me going.” Williams scored four shots from outside the arc.
As the Valkyries add another banner inside Chase Center, that makes it five for the Golden State franchise, along with the Curry-led Warriors dynasty, who won in 2015, 2017, 2018, and 2022. The Warriors even honored the Valkyries’ championship between the first and second quarters in their game against the Los Angeles Clippers.
It has been a first season full of success for Gabby Williams, as she reaches the mountaintop of women’s basketball in the place where it all started for her.