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First, her teammates rushed to embrace and shelter Cecilia Zandalasini after she took the last pass, soared for the last time, and took — and just missed — the Valkyries’ last shot of their magical first season.
The noise didn’t matter. The sadness didn’t matter. Making sure that everybody was there for her was everything.
What a perfect unified symbol for everything that was accomplished this season and everything it meant.
“What I’m sure they said is, ‘Ceci, thank you for taking that shot,’” Natalie Nakase said of her players in that moment. “Not everyone has that in their DNA.”
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Then — about a minute after their season-ending 75-74 Game 2 loss to the No. 1-seeded Minnesota Lynx on Wednesday at SAP Center — the entire Valkyries team melted into a giant and emotional group hug at midcourt.
And as the crowd kept roaring and the Lynx celebrated then walked off the court, the Valkyries just stayed together. Like they didn’t want the chain to ever break.
After this incredible inaugural season and that stirring Game 2 battle with Minnesota, they were not going to let that feeling go.
“Just really soaking this in,” Veronica Burton said about 30 minutes later. “This was an incredible experience. This was an incredible team. A group of women that are really great people and obviously ballers, too.
“But I think it’s bigger than basketball right now. And just appreciating where we are, appreciating being in the Bay in front of this fan base. It’s just been really special.”
They were the first expansion team to ever make the WNBA playoffs. They’ve got Nakase, who won Coach of the Year in her first season as a head coach anywhere. They battled through a never-ending series of injuries — that continued through Wednesday, when starting forward Temi Fagbenle was ruled out just before tipoff with a knee injury.
They couldn’t get past Minnesota, but the Valkyries exceeded all expectations and put themselves into any conversation for contention in 2026, 2027, and deep into the future.
If they can do this in Year 1, maybe Joe Lacob’s declaration that they’ll win a championship within five years might be — amazingly, for him — a bit modest.
“We wanted that bar to be high,” Nakase said. “You guys know Joe Lacob. He obviously came in (after the game), was super-impressed with our season. Said a lot of positive words. Obviously, it’s good to hear from your boss that you did a good job.
“But he knows the goal is the goal. We’ve gotta win a championship in five years. I love that challenge. I wanted to win this year. So to me, I’m disappointed in myself. I can’t wait for next year. I don’t see it as setting the bar high. Hell no.”
Nothing is set about the WNBA next season — there will be a new CBA, new salary-cap rules, and an expansion draft for two new teams. The Valkyries will never be the newest cool thing in this league again and they’ll very likely lose important players.
But they’ll almost certainly be able to add one or two high-level players. And what player wouldn’t be attracted by the thunder and joy that was beamed from Ballhalla all season?
Building a winning culture is the hardest thing for any team in any league. Some franchises never get there. The Warriors were lost for decades before a rookie from Davidson arrived in 2009.
And the Valkyries did it almost instantly. That’s what they showed through this season, that’s what sold out Chase Center every night, that’s what drew all those fans to San Jose for this game when Chase was booked this week.
And that’s what the Valkyries were celebrating in that huddle, with themselves and with the fans who will never forget this season.
“It’s been a really up and down year — a lot of injury, a lot of different lineups, different rotations,” Burton said. “But each one of us poured into this team and stepped up in different ways. I think we just built a bond that was unbreakable. Just reminding each other of that and that the pride that we have every time we put on a Valkyries jersey.”
More than anything, the practical and personal pride is what you can’t miss about this team. It burns in them. It burned all season.
Yes, this is an expansion team filled with players that other teams let go, but every time this was mentioned to them, the answer was electric. Just like it was Wednesday when Janelle Salaün was asked about this coaching staff and a roster with “limited experience” getting this far.
“Sorry, but I don’t like the ‘limited experience’ (phrase),” Salaün said. “The people in this group are special, you know? Yes, we don’t have big names, so yes, there were no stars. But we’re f— underdogs. We’re fighters.”
They fought so hard on Wednesday that the Lynx seemed a little stunned at first as the Valkyries built a 14-point halftime lead. The Valkyries pushed and shoved and dared the Lynx to push back. For most of three quarters, it worked.
Then the Lynx started pushing back, and the best team in the league with MVP-to-be Napheesa Collier took over the fourth quarter.
It was an inevitable ending for the Valkyries. It was a sad ending. But it was an all-time season.
“So proud,” Nakase said. “That’s the first thing I said. No. 1, I said, ‘Get your f— heads up.’ I said, ‘Get your heads up.’ They were down. I said I want everyone’s eye contact. I want to feel every single person right now. I want your emotions, I want your heart, I want everything. …
“We had two starters out and we went toe-to-toe with the No. 1 team. That shows so much fight. And I’m just so proud of them allowing me to push them past what they felt they could do. And that’s not easy. A lot of people like to be stagnant. Not this team. They don’t like to be stagnant; they like to be challenged.”
It won’t stop now. It can’t stop. What we saw this season was just the start of it. The chain won’t break.