Valkyries see 50-game schedule as proof league has arrived, but concerns about player health remain

The WNBA's expansion to a 50-game schedule next season is drawing mixed reactions from Golden State Valkyries players and coaches, who see it as a sign of league growth but worry about player health and potential load management. Center Kiah Stokes noted the schedule's tough stretches and predicted players may take rest days, while coach Natalie Nakase expressed hope that everyone stays healthy.

Getting your Trinity Audio //trinityaudio.ai player ready...SAN FRANCISCO — Kiah Stokes https://www.espn.com/wnba/player/ /id/2590093/kiah-stokes let out a big laugh when she heard the question. “They’re making us get our money’s worth for sure,” the Valkyries https://www.mercurynews.com/sports/wnba/golden-state-valkyries/ center said jokingly. The WNBA’s decision to expand to a 50-game schedule https://www.wnba.com/news/wnba-expands-to-50-game-regular-season starting next season is drawing that kind of reaction across the league: part excitement, part exhaustion just thinking about it. For Stokes and the Valkyries, the extra games represent something bigger than just more work. It’s proof that the league they’ve dedicated countless seasons to is finally getting the push it deserves. “I think it just goes to show the growth of our league,” Stokes told the Bay Area News Group on Friday. “When I was coming into the league in 2015, we only had 36 games. It was legitimately like a four-month season, so now it’s creeping more towards six or seven months. I just think it’s great for the league and it shows growth.” On Wednesday, the WNBA announced its decision to expand starting next season. The league already extended the amount of games from 40 to 44 this season just months after securing a historic new media rights deal worth upwards of $3 billion https://frontofficesports.com/wnba-media-deals-growth/ in total value. With a longer season approaching and three new expansion teams set to enter the league by 2030, the appetite for women’s basketball is clearly there. But like many others around the league, Stokes and Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase are hoping the logistics of creating a longer season won’t affect the health and well being of those playing the games. “It’s really exciting, but I hope everyone stays healthy,” Nakase said. Stokes believes that the increase in games could ultimately lead to players sitting out games to rest, though she is not a fan of that. “My only concern is I feel like our schedule has really tough stretches now, so adding six more games is gonna be tough,” Stokes said “Hopefully it doesn’t come to this, but players will probably take rest days or games off during the season, which is not my favorite thing but I understand it.” The load management conversation is also tied to a broader conversation about how WNBA players can now approach their offseasons. For most of the WNBA’s history, players would often go overseas after summers stateside. Leagues across Europe and Asia offered salaries that were much higher than those in the WNBA, making the overseas grind less of an option and more of a financial necessity. The practice became so common that it simply became part of what it meant to be a professional women’s basketball player. But that calculus is quickly changing. The WNBA and its players association reached a landmark collective bargaining agreement this past offseason that significantly raised salaries, with the league’s top players able to earn $1.4 million annually. At the same time, domestic alternatives like Unrivaled and Athletes Unlimited have given players ways to compete and earn money stateside during the offseason, without the wear of international travel or the strain of being away from home for months at a time. Stokes sees that flexibility reshaping how players will think about a longer WNBA season. “It will make people reconsider what they do in the offseason,” Stokes said. “I think people will try to make as much money as they can in the offseason, but they’ll just be smarter about it.”