The Golden State Valkyries officially suspended the contracts of Gabby Williams, Janelle Salaün, Cecilia Zandalasini, and Miela Sowah since those four players are heading to the 2026 FIBA World Cup. Williams and Salaün will remain teammates as they look to lead France to a tournament victory. Zandalasini (Italy) and Sowah (Australia) will be the sole Valkyries reps with their respective teams. Valkyries head coach Natalie Nakase will also be at the tournament, serving as an assistant with Team USA. The Valkyries also still have the WNBA rights of Kokoro Tanaka, who they selected with the 38th overall pick in the 2026 WNBA Draft, who will be representing Japan.
Valkyries players will have to escape the group stages before they could potentially square off on the court. Japan (Group A), France (Group B), Australia (Group C), and Italy (Group D) are currently all in different groups. That said, Nakase is guaranteed to coach against Zandalasini since Team USA is also in Group D.
Italy and Japan both failed to qualify for the 2024 Olympics, and so, are hoping to punch their ticket to 2028 with a strong World Cup performance. Among the teams with Valkyries players, France is easily the one with the highest expectations, having lost by just one point to Team USA in the Gold Medal Game at the 2024 Summer Olympics.
