The Wings and Valkyries Share a Court, Not a History

The first game between the Dallas Wings and the Golden State Valkyries will look like any other WNBA contest. Jerseys tucked in, a jump ball, somebody taking the first shot of a series that has never existed before. But for how ordinary that tip-off might feel, the matchup itself is anything but.
These two teams are bookends. One has been around, in one form or another, since the league's second season. The other just moved into its arena. When they meet this season, they'll be doing something rare in modern sports: starting a relationship from zero, with no shared history to lean on.
The Wings carry a long, winding lineage. They began in 1998 as the Detroit Shock, won three championships, then packed up for Tulsa before settling in Dallas in 2016. That journey left them with a veteran's patience and a fan base that measures success in years, not moments. They've also been through more than a few rebuilding cycles, which is how they ended up with the first overall pick in the 2025 draft and a new face of the franchise in Paige Bueckers.
Bueckers arrived carrying the kind of attention Dallas hasn't seen in a long time. Paired with Arike Ogunbowale — one of the league's most fearless scorers — she immediately changed how opponents prepare for the Wings. Ogunbowale can create her own shot from anywhere on the floor, while Bueckers plays with a basketball IQ that raises everyone around her. It's a contrasting pairing, and it gives the Wings an identity they've spent years searching for.
The Valkyries, meanwhile, didn't need to rebuild. They needed to be built at all.
Golden State is the WNBA's first expansion team in 17 years, and the organization has approached its blank slate with intention. The name, borrowed from Norse mythology, calls up images of warrior women who chose which fallen heroes earned their place in Valhalla — an ambitious brand for a team with zero games played. Head coach Natalie Nakase brought championship habits from her time with the Las Vegas Aces, and the front office used the expansion draft to collect versatile, defensively-minded players rather than chase marquee names. The Valkyries may not have a single superstar, but they have something potentially more dangerous in an expansion season: a system, and players who believe in it.
That philosophical contrast is what makes the matchup itself worth watching. The Wings run through Ogunbowale's shot creation and Bueckers' court vision. The Valkyries counter with pace, pressure, and a rotation that trusts deep into its bench. And since these two franchises have never faced each other, there's no scouting history, no built-in grudges — just two teams reacting in real time. The first meetings between new and established teams often produce the most unpredictable basketball of the season.
There's also the atmosphere. Chase Center gives the Valkyries a home in a region that has waited decades for a WNBA franchise, and the early demand for tickets and merchandise made it clear the Bay Area was ready. The Wings, playing in front of a smaller but loyal crowd in Arlington, Texas, have less noise around them — but also less room for patience. One team plays for validation, the other for survival. That imbalance tends to make for unexpectedly good games.
It would be easy to file this away as just another regular-season series in a league that is growing faster than ever. But the Wings-Valkyries matchup has a larger job. The WNBA's expansion era is just beginning — Toronto and Portland arrive next — and the model for how new franchises interact with established ones is being written right now, on the court, between these two teams.
Both sides might sense it already. The Wings know what it's like to be the newcomers; they were, not that long ago. The Valkyries know what it's like to carry a fresh name and a heavy crown. When they meet, they'll write the first sentence of a story that will still be going long after this season ends.
That's more than a regular-season game. That's the beginning of something.