Leader, Closer, All-Star Starter: Gabby Williams Is the Full Package
WNBA Golden State Valkyries

Leader, Closer, All-Star Starter: Gabby Williams Is the Full Package

Published on July 2, 2026 under Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Golden State Valkyries News Release


Gabby Williams became the first player in the Valkyries' franchise history to be named a WNBA All-Star starter and will represent the team in the 2026 WNBA All-Star game in Chicago on July 25. Williams gives the Valkyries an All-Star for the second consecutive season, after Kayla Thornton became their first-ever representative in 2025. Williams was one of four 2025 All-Star free agents to switch teams and is the only one to earn an All-Star starter nod this season. She has been an incredible culture fit with Golden State and has taken her game to new heights since her arrival. Williams is the Valkyries' leading scorer, averaging a career-high 15.8 points per game. She has eclipsed 20 points five times this season, a career-high mark, including a career-high 27-point performance against the reigning champion Las Vegas Aces on June 6.

"You see it on a night-in, night-out basis - her ability to score within our offense - she's able to create her own shot when need be and then she's able to fit into how we run our offense," Veronica Burton said. "She's a really dynamic scorer and in big moments, at the most important time of the game, she's getting clutch buckets down the stretch. There's a steadiness to her and she's super reliable. Her composure, her ability to keep us together - we really feel it and so it really has elevated us as a whole."

Among players with at least 300 minutes logged, Williams is seventh in the WNBA in usage percentage (27.7 USG%), showcasing how much the Valkyries rely on her to generate offense. Williams is also the Valkyries' go-to defensive stopper, often tasked with guarding the opposing team's go-to offensive weapon.

"Gabby can guard one through five," Head Coach Natalie Nakase said. "She does a great job with her physicality. If it's in the post, she has these active, long hands that are dangerous. It's just her instincts - it's just her."

In their inaugural season, the Valkyries built an identity predicated on volume 3-point shooting and lockdown defense. Williams was already First Team All-Defense, but her increased 3-point shooting volume has unlocked an offensive leap, as she's shooting a career-high 35.2 percent from three on a career-high 5.3 attempts per game. She is one of three WNBA players averaging at least 15 points, 1.5 made 3-pointers and 1.5 steals per game, joined by Allisha Gray and Rhyne Howard of the Atlanta Dream.

"She's one of the best players in the world," Nakase said about Williams. "She's our star. She's definitely an All-Star. She's the most humble star I think I've ever coached before and that's what makes her shine even more."

The stars are truly able to separate themselves from the pack when the stakes are the highest. Down the stretch of a close game, teams can ideally put the ball in the hands of their star player, trusting that they'll consistently make the right play to win the game. That's exactly what Williams did against the Dream on June 26. Williams was struggling with just three points through three quarters but came alive in the fourth quarter, scoring 13 points on 4-for-4 shooting in the final 3:31 to seal a three-point win.

"She's developing into our closer," Nakase said. "She wants to close and our players trust her too."

In 20 games with the Valkyries, Williams has completely earned the trust of her teammates and coaches. They believe in her to lead the way and they will follow suit.

"When she talks, everyone listens," Burton said. "But whether she talks or not, her impact is always felt as a leader. She has incredible experience, so she is someone we all look to. She has such composure. She knows when to get into us as a team and also when to just let things play out."

Williams has been a home run signing for the Valkyries and the fit has been mutually beneficial. Golden State finds itself third in the WNBA standings and has already secured pivotal tiebreakers against the New York Liberty and Atlanta Dream. A big selling point for Williams to join the Valkyries was their aligned desire to compete for a championship and they have set themselves up to be in that mix in the first half of the 2026 season. With deep ties to the Bay, Williams will put on for the city, representing them by starting in the 2026 WNBA All-Star Game on July 25.

"Knowing what women's basketball means to the Bay Area and what it has meant for decades, I know up close and personal what it means to be a female athlete here," Williams said.

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