Gabby Williams scored 30 points in Game 7 of the WNBA Finals on Oct. 31, and the Golden State Valkyries held off the Atlanta Dream 68-63 at Chase Center for their first title. Williams was named Finals MVP. She had signed with Golden State as a free agent on April 12.
On Tuesday morning, three days after the title, general manager Ohemaa Nyanin took questions at her exit interview.
Nyanin spent award season nervous for Williams. The league put Williams on its All-Defensive First Team and left every Valkyrie off the All-WNBA teams, so Golden State won the title as the first champion in league history without an All-WNBA selection.
"I think I talked about this in the past, but I've watched her career for a really long time," Nyanin said. "And so she's shown up in big games throughout her entire career. And so really not limiting her to her WNBA experience, but her entire basketball experience is what I envisioned and what Coach Natalie envisioned. And so there were many moments along the season where you're kind of like, OK, she pressed that lever. OK, yep, she went up another level. OK, can she press another one? And her relationship with Coach Natalie just continued to get stronger over time. Would I have been able to envision the second half that she had? Truthfully, no, but not in a limiting way, right?"
"More so in a way that when you are talking to athletes and you're trying to get them to want to come to your organization and want to sacrifice and want to play and wear the jersey and be a part of the community and all those things, the hope is that they get something back out of it," Nyanin continued. "Right. And so through award season, I was really nervous that any of that would take away from her shine. And so for her to get Finals MVP was just very validating for me, for her. I know she doesn't do this for the awards, but I needed that for her just to continue to give her confidence that she's exactly where she needs to be. And we're all blessed to witness her and be a part of her journey."
Williams led all players in the Finals with 19.6 points and 2.6 steals per game. She is one of five players in league history to average at least 17 points and 2.5 steals in a Finals, according to the team.
She scored in double figures in six of the seven games. Williams had 26 points in Game 6 in Atlanta and 30 in Game 7.
Atlanta led 30-24 at halftime of Game 7. Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase told Williams at the break that the game would come to her, according to The Associated Press. Williams scored the team's final 11 points of the third quarter.
Rhyne Howard's layup tied the game at 57 with 2:41 left. Williams answered with a 3-pointer, then made two free throws with 1:40 remaining.
Williams spent four seasons with the Seattle Storm. In the last of them, 2025, she set career highs with 11.6 points, 4.2 assists, and 2.3 steals per game. Her 99 steals were the most in the WNBA.
Williams told reporters after Game 7 that a group full of love in Golden State changed where her career was headed.
In July, Williams was named a starter for the WNBA All-Star Game. She was the first All-Star starter in franchise history and the team's second All-Star overall, after Kayla Thornton in 2025.
Chicago drafted Williams fourth overall in 2018 out of Connecticut, where she won two NCAA championships. She played youth basketball in the Bay Area.
Overseas, Williams won a EuroLeague title with Fenerbahçe and an Olympic silver medal with France. She was named EuroLeague Defensive Player of the Year twice.
Golden State opened the playoffs by getting past the Dallas Wings in three games. Then came a sweep of the defending champion Las Vegas Aces. Atlanta took two of the first three games of the Finals, and Golden State won Games 4, 5, and 7.
Eleven times this postseason, Williams scored 15 or more points. Nobody in the league did it more often this year, and no player has done it more in a single postseason, according to the team.
