Golden State Valkyries forward Gabby Williams seems to be the magic that the team needed. An Olympian and two-time University of Connecticut NCAA champion, Williams is as close to claiming the Bay Area as her own as we get to have on the team. She played for a few local teams as a kid, has extended family here, and is as outspoken as one from the Bay might be.
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Story transcript:
Gabby Williams saying….. “YAYAREAAAAAAA”
Reporter: Gabby Williams grew up in Reno, Nevada, about a four-hour trek on highway eighty from the Bay Area. But some of Gabby’s extended family lives in Oakland. And she spent her springs and summers playing basketball in the Bay.
Alfonso Joo: Her style of play emulates this, the Bay. And in-your-face defense was her thing.
Joo: I’m Alfonso Joo, I run the Bulldawgs Basketball Club.
Reporter: The Bulldawgs are a competitive youth basketball program based in Daly City. Coach Fons met Gabby in Reno when he traveled up there to help out at a tournament.
Joo: Gabby was a youngster. She was like nine years old. Yeah, she wasn't in fourth grade yet.
Reporter: Then Gabby started coming down to the Bay.
Joo: I had an opportunity to coach, which I did, had a blast.
Reporter: Gabby ended up playing for Coach Fons for eight years with the Bulldawgs.
Joo: She was just a joy to coach.
Reporter: Coach Fons watched as her style of play took on a Bay Area attitude.
Joo: Just having her outstretched arms, active hands, active hands, active hands. Her and her close outs. Working over the top, fighting through, fighting through. Oh, man, that's, yeah, that's, that's us. That's Bay Area. That's Bay Area basketball, baby, at its best.
Reporter: That early education on Bay Area courts has taken Gabby far.
She was a two-time NCAA champ with the University of Connecticut. The Chicago Sky drafted her fourth overall in 2018 and she stayed with the team for three seasons.
Then Gabby spent four seasons with the Seattle Storm, where her career reached new heights.
Announcer: And picked off by Gabby Williams, who can come up with a tip back to Brittany Sykes! She explodes to the rim and lays it up and in. Seattle by three. Timeout Carl Smisco. Wow, Gabby Williams. Wow.
Reporter: During the 2025 season, Gabby made her first All-Star appearance. She also had the most steals in the league. About two per game – a total of ninety-nine overall.
Reporter: And have we talked about Gabby Williams the Olympian? She plays for France, because her mother is of French descent. She won Bronze with the team back in 2021 in Tokyo. And in the summer of 2024, she played in the Paris games, this time making the finals.
And it was a nail-biter.
Gabby came back into the game in the fourth quarter with five minutes left on the clock.
Announcer: France need at least a two to level it. There it is, three-point game. Ayayi inbounds. Johannes, just seconds to go. Williams has to put it up. It might not be three. Oh, I think it's two. I think it's two.
Reporter: Just inches away from pushing overtime. In the end, it wasn’t enough.
Announcer: Gabby Williams on the line. Wow, she’s distraught. She’s in tears.
Reporter: Her team took silver. Final score was France 66, USA 67.
It seems like Gabby has been on the brink of a big win for a few years, losing the gold medal by just one point, and then getting knocked out in the playoffs with the Storm in 2025. The timing just wasn’t right.
So when the Golden State Valkyries signed Gabby ahead of the 2026 season, fans and the front office were excited.
Reporter: The normally soft-spoken and confident General Manager Ohemaa Nyanin got emotional about their newest player.
Sound of Golden State Valkyries General Manager Ohemaa Nyanin at press conference: We're elated to officially welcome Gabby to this organization. Woo. I’m gonna cry. Ok.
Reporter: She seemed full of pride talking about Gabby.
Sound of Golden State Valkyries General Manager Ohemaa Nyanin at press conference: Who Gabby is as an individual is the epitome of what we look for in athletes. What she does on and off the court speaks for itself.
Reporter: Coach Natalie Nakase was there too, and gave a peek as to how she celebrates big moments.
Sound of Golden State Valkyries head coach Natalie Nakase at press conference: Okay, y'all this is some inside stuff. The night before I told Ohemaa and I'm like, yo, I'm gonna break out my Caymus.
Reporter: Caymus wine is an old-school Napa Valley label. And now we know that Coach loves a Cab Sav.
Sound of Golden State Valkyries head coach Natalie Nakase at press conference: And she's like, "No, no, no, no, no. Like, let's wait. Let's wait." And I'm like, "No, I got a double bottle." It wasn't a regular Caymus bottle. It was a double bottle. I'm like, "I'm breaking it out now." And she's like, "Why?" I go, "I have a good feeling. “I wanna celebrate early 'cause I feel good.” Sure enough early in the morning I was like, "Goddamn, it's early." And then she told me the news. And we just went crazy. Felt like it was the right fit.”
Reporter: Gabby had just come off a season in Istanbul. Beyond just grabbing clothes or furniture when one moves to a new place, her journey back to the Bay included a special pick-up.
Sound of Gabby at the press conference: Went home to Reno to get my cat, most importantly. And then just drove here, got here yesterday morning, and had the best day ever.
Reporter: Gabby was given a big warm welcome to Ballhalla — which included a hug from the Valkyries mascot Violet, her image up on the jumbo screen facing Third Street, and picking her spot inside the Valkyries locker room.
Reporter: The 29-year-old came to the Valkyries as a seasoned vet, an Olympic silver medalist, looking for a winning team and culture — and maybe something familiar.
Sound of Gabby at press conference: It was an amazing feeling, and then to have my family here, and my old coach from the Bay Area Bulldawgs, he was here to witness it as well.
Sound of Golden State Valkyries announcer Jaime Coffee: Gabby Williams for three.
Reporter: From the start of this season, Gabby has been the spark that the Valkyries needed.
When you watch her out on the court, it’s like watching a ballerina.
Reporter: Her old coach, Alfonso Joo, says Gabby has played like this since day one.
Joo: Her jumping ability, her elasticity, as I call it, her agility, defensively being able to change directions and how people say that, "Wow, she's always looks like she's like a gazelle. She's, like, on her toes," what have you. I'm like, "Yeah, that's how she's always been."
Reporter: Coach Fons has been watching Gabby from her youth basketball days all the way to games inside of Ballhalla. It’s been a journey for the coach as much as it has for Gabby.
Joo: It's hard to say in words. Emotionally, I just get pumped up. I just get a really, like, a proud feeling. But it's one of those where you just say, I don't wanna blink. And you go, man, I blinked twice and she graduated. Blink again, and she's now on Chicago Sky. Blink again, and she's leading France and she's putting a beating on Team USA, right? So it's where I sometimes have to sit down and just go backwards in time, and it has that feeling like if I just blinked, maybe I should keep my eyes open. That way it can last longer.
Reporter: Maybe that’s why Coach Fons goes to as many Valkyries games as he can.
Joo: I love seeing kids with her jersey number.
Reporter: He still coaches today, working with young players, from third grade through high school.
Joo: I go to the game, and some of my kids who play for me are at the games, and they're like, "Can we meet? Can we meet?" And I'm like, "Okay." And she's such a, she's such a sweetheart. She's like, "Yeah, yeah, come bring them.” And I look at the little kid, and I look at Gabby, and I go, Maybe this kid is gonna do something just because. And then you start putting them together, there's no words.
Reporter: It's emotional.
Joo: Yeah.
Reporter: Why is it emotional for you? You can take a minute.
Joo: When you see someone who's, a mentor, someone who they, look up to, and then if you know the person, and then you think in the back of your mind, this is a really genuine kid that I've known forever, and now here's some other kids that are looking up, and then they look to her, it's just your heart just warms up. You can't do anything but just smile and absorb it. And I'm lucky. I'm extremely lucky, you know? I'm extremely lucky to have had the chance to know her.
Reporter: Gabby picked up more than basketball skills during her time in the Bay as a kid. I caught up with her after a recent practice, and she told me that being down here was eye-opening for her back then.
Gabby Williams: I think I grew up in a pretty closed-minded town of Reno. Like, you know, very small. A lot of people don't get out of there. So then got to experience a lot different cultures, different mindset and mentality and openness, out here in the Bay.”
Reporter: She’s been a longtime fighter for social justice.
Reporter: I just wanted to ask, too, like, what, what makes you be outspoken about inclusivity?
Williams: Unfortunately, as a female, you're just politicized no matter what. Our entire league is being politicized right now. So it's either, to say nothing is to take a side as well. There's no reason to exclude anybody and to upset anyone just for being who they are or living their truth. So that's why I guess, I just speak up.
Reporter: This season, that looks like standing up for the transgender community, who have been a target for the conservative, right-wing agenda. Nearly thirty states have passed laws to ban trans girls from playing in girls’ sports.
Gabby spoke about this back in May.
Sound of Gabby Williams: We see trans people's rights being, you know, stripped away from them. There's a lot of discourse, discourse around trans athletes and what they can compete in. I would welcome a trans athlete, uh, on my team or against my team anytime. I don't think it's a problem in the world. It's just another way to kind of attack trans people.
Reporter: That video of Gabby went viral and she was caught in a vicious backlash from rightwing media and influencers. But the Valks community stood solidly with Gabby as the internet came for her. And many trans fans and allies are grateful for her support.
Arne Johnson: It means a lot. It's gonna be hard for me to get through this. It means a ton.
Reporter: I talked with Arne Johnson with Rainbow Families Action outside of Ballhalla, just before a Valkyries game.
Johnson: We're all parents, caregivers, and allies of trans kids. And when people of her worth, and her strength, and her ability, and charisma speak up for our kids, it's such a huge deal. A lot of people are afraid to speak up or stand up for our kids, and Gabby Williams, well, you know, we got her back forever.
Reporter: Gabby is one of the league’s out players. She doesn’t hide who she is — and Valks fans celebrate that.
Anushka: I love that she's, like, a very out player in a Bay Area team and her whole thing about, you know, "Oh, I wasn't gonna lose on Pride Night," and like, "Let's do it for the gays." Of course the fans love that.
Reporter: That’s Anushka from San Francisco at a Valkyries watch party at Rikki’s, the first women’s sports bar in the City.
Another Rikki’s customer shared their thoughts.
Hannah Henry: Hannah Henry, Oakland, California.
Reporter: Hannah has been a long-time Gabby fan.
Henry: She's been such a huge add to the team. I was a fan of hers before she came to the Valkyries, and then, when she came here, I was really excited.
Reporter: Hannah plays basketball within the queer community in Oakland.
Henry: I remember, the first couple weeks when she came, we were at this pickup game, and everyone was asked who their favorite player on the Valkyries was and, like, half of the people there already said Gabby Williams. And I was like, I was like, damn, I didn't even realize her, sorry, I won't say that on the radio. I didn't realize her impact was gonna be that strong.
Reporter: Yeah, it is that strong.
Reporter: Standing up for marginalized communities seems to be a part of who Gabby is. And she tells me that playing for a Bay team has created a sense of security to just be herself.
Williams: It's definitely my safe, safe space. I feel safe here. Uh, it's also, you know, I grew up with this kind of open-mindedness, so I think I feel like I can be more authentic here in the Bay.
Reporter: Coach Natalie Nakase sees it, too.
Reporter: On the Gabby tip ... what makes her the most Bay to you?
Natalie Nakase: I think just her being open. I love the city because the openness, the acceptedness, the inclusivity … it's just you being able to be your authentic self. I could really feel that with Gabby once I got to know her. And, you know, whether it's, like, all her tattoos, she doesn't, she's not scared to be different, and I think that kind of fits into the personality of the Bay.
Reporter: The Golden State Valkyries have changed the DNA of the Bay Area. From consistently selling out games since their inaugural 2025 season to turning Chase Center into Ballhalla — our veins run violet.
That support means a lot to Gabby Williams.
Williams: I think little Gabby would just be really happy and like healed right now seeing this. Like everybody knows who the Valkyries are here. It's not like, niche. Like everyone is excited to have a WNBA team here.
Reporter: And I think little Gabby would be happy knowing that the Bay is excited to have her represent us.