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The Golden State Valkyries were aboard their double-decker buses. Champagne bottles chilled and ready to pop. Boxes of Valkyries T-shirts and beaded necklaces stacked to give away to the thousands of fans who showed up to party with the newly minted WNBA champions.
This championship parade, though, would have to wait a few minutes.
As Veronica Burton's bus – shared with Kaitlyn Chen and Laeticia Amihere – turned the corner out of the Ferry Building and onto the Embarcadero, the procession came to an abrupt stop.
It wouldn't be a Bay Area event without a little traffic jam.
Luckily, whoever was in charge gave this bus a microphone and speaker, and the volume turned up high enough to reach fans far behind the barricades. Chen grabbed the microphone and asked the crowd a question.
"Do you want to hear Veronica Burton sing?" she said.
The crowd cheered. Burton, of course, wasn't up for singing. Once traffic got moving and the parade began under clouds of confetti and a shining autumn sun, Burton took the microphone and gave a shout-out to the screaming fans who showed up. To one onlooker, she said, "You have such a cute baby!"
The procession rolled through throngs of supporters who perfectly exemplified this Valkyries fan base – one that brought all the signage, enthusiasm, music and get-ups. A crowd of people who showed just how much they fell in love with this team that treated them to a title in its second year of existence.
Signs popped up written in French for Gabby Williams, Janelle Salaün and Aminata Gueye; a few were in Italian for Cecilia Zandalasini. Outnumbering those signs but double were ones that read some variation of "For the Gays," a battle cry Williams created this June that stuck.
Fans brought their kids, who screamed for their favorite players from the barricades. Many showed off their drawings of all the players. A handful wore hot dog costumes, a nod to Chen arriving at Game 7 on Halloween dressed as a hot dog.
Other signs popped up in response to the Democratic takeover of Congress in the prior night's elections – one read "Blue wave + Valkyries parade = fire." Meanwhile, most fans couldn't help but shake their hair and dance when floats rolled by playing Bay Area hits like "Tell Me When to Go" and "Yay Area."
No Valkyries player appeared to soak up the moment by the Bay quite like Williams. Somewhere between Mission and Brannan on the Embarcadero, Williams disembarked her double-decker bus along with Kiah Stokes with bottles of bubbly.
After the Valkyries clinched the title on Saturday, Williams told her teammates to get excited for a true Bay Area experience at the parade.
She came dressed for the occasion, first wearing a hoodie with "For the Bay!" written in violet across the chest. Then an outfit change into a "Valks 2026 champs" hoodie as she sang along to Too $hort's "Blow the Whistle," blowing her own whistle she brought along.
Fitting, since she invoked a famous lyric in the song during a postgame on-court interview following playoff wins, asking the crowd, "what's my favorite word?" They took their cue.
Williams soaked in the crowd, signing autographs on jerseys and dancing alongside fans. She and Stokes – a parade veteran now celebrating her fourth title – sprayed fans with Champagne as they walked the route.
This parade was a celebration of a two-year-old franchise capturing the Bay Area's hearts, not just because the Valkyries exemplify so many groups that make up the region, but because they won while doing it.
It also served as a moment for Williams to further solidify her legend status in the Bay Area, a place that doesn't forget those who want to win for the city they represent, not just for individual glory.
The Bay Area rap music, blaring from every bus and float, had taken hold on the Burton bus. Suddenly, the trio was ready to sing.
"Bay Area!" Amihere sang to the tune of E-40's "Yay Area." Burton laughed along, but didn't get on the mic next. Instead, she got off the bus and to the barricades to high five as many fans as possible. And take a few selfies, too.
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This article originally published at How Gabby Williams made the Valkyries' parade a true Bay Area party.
https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/gabby-williams-made-valkyries-parade-033708004.html
