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The Golden State Valkyries are WNBA champs. It's just their second year in the league, making them the fastest team to take the title in the WNBA's 30-year history. And it happened in a season when the WNBA set both viewership and attendance records. Member station KQED's Natalia Navarro reports.
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NATALIA NAVARRO, BYLINE: The score was 68 to 63 at the buzzer.
TINA KISSINGER: I'm so elated. I've never felt like this in San Francisco. This is the best thing in San Francisco that's ever happened.
NAVARRO: That's Tina Kissinger (ph), one of the more than 18,000 fans sporting violet and Halloween costumes who packed the arena known as Ballhalla. It's named after the mythical Norse Hall of Warriors in the realm of the gods.
Gail Wong (ph) turned 81 on Saturday, decked out in a violet wig, purple sequin jacket, handmade sparkly skirt and a sign.
GAIL WONG: All I want for my 81st birthday - Valkyries championship. Whoo.
NAVARRO: And she got her wish, but it wasn't easy. Both the Valkyries and the Dream are defensive powerhouses. That resulted in a well-matched series. In Game 7, the Valks were led by Gabby Williams, named the most valuable player after she scored 28 of her 30 points in the second half.
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GABBY WILLIAMS: I see buildings lit up in purple. I see Go Valks everywhere, and all I keep thinking is like, I can't lose. I can't lose. I'm on the drive, and I'm like, this is the moment. This is my time to, like - to give my everything for this community. This is the community I want to play for.
NAVARRO: The Valkyries fan community is known for its positivity and inclusiveness. Several players and the Valkyries coach have been vocal about their support for LGBTQ issues, particularly trans inclusion, which means a lot to Alison Shannon (ph).
ALISON SHANNON: It's really cool to support athletes that I think care about causes I care about and are good people in a world where that's not always the case.
NAVARRO: The diversity of the fans and the team also made a big impact on mom of two Valkyries fans, Michelle Floriendo (ph). She's glad her young Filipino kids get to see Taiwanese American point guard Kaitlyn Chen and Japanese American coach Natalie Nakase succeed on this level.
MICHELLE FLORIENDO: My heart melts every single time I see a little Asian girl in a Kaitlyn Chen jersey. Like, I mean, representation matters so much. You can't be what you can't see, right?
NAVARRO: This finals series also raised familiar controversy over the gap in resources and support for women's professional sports. Game 6, played in Atlanta, was mired in controversy. For days, it was unclear when or even where they would play. The Dream's home arena is tiny, so all their home postseason games were hosted at the arena where the Atlanta NBA team - the Hawks - play. But a scheduling conflict pushed tipoff on Thursday to 12:30 p.m. Eastern, which for Valkyries fans on the West Coast was 9:30 a.m. Stefesha Equoi Walton (ph) traveled from Oakland to Atlanta for what was called the brunch game. They said the scheduling was disrespectful.
STEFESHA EQUOI WALTON: To all the people who does scheduling, you might want to put Game 6 that might be a decider at a primetime slot, aka 6, 7 or 8 p.m. That shows women's basketball the level of respect that it deserves, not just salary cap and not just bonuses.
NAVARRO: The money is good for Valkyries' ownership. This season, the franchise became the first women's professional sports team in the U.S. to surpass $100 million in annual revenue and hit a valuation near $1 billion.
After the game, players thanked owner Joe Lacob for investing in the future of women's sports and his aggressive vision for the team to win a championship in the first five years. Now that they've done it in two, the celebration continues with a victory parade down the San Francisco Embarcadero on Wednesday.
For NPR News, I'm Natalia Navarro in San Francisco.
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UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: (Singing) 'Cause we are the champions of the world.
(CHEERING) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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