{"id":1108,"date":"2026-06-03T15:12:53","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T15:12:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1108"},"modified":"2026-06-03T15:12:53","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T15:12:53","slug":"valkyries-seek-more-than-commissioners-cup-trophy-as-they-open-tournament-with-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1108","title":{"rendered":"Valkyries seek more than Commissioner’s Cup trophy as they open tournament with win"},"content":{"rendered":"
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SAN FRANCISCO \u2014 \u201cOne game at a time\u201d has been the Valkyries\u2019 mantra this season. But when <\/span>they beat the Portland Fire<\/span> in their first Commissioner\u2019s Cup game on Tuesday, even they couldn\u2019t pretend that their next handful of games had some stakes to it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more In Senate hearing, Pac-12 commissioner Teresa Gould calls for NCAA to consider collective bargaining, give athletes a \u201cformal voice\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI think you have to approach it the same way like any other game, but of course, there\u2019s some reasoning behind it,\u201d forward Kayla Thornton said of the Valkyries\u2019 seven-game Commissioner\u2019s Cup schedule. \u201cWe\u2019re playing for an organization for the youth, so it kind of means a little bit more.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The <\/span>Valkyries opened<\/span> their slate of Commissioner\u2019s Cup games with a blowout victory. The WNBA\u2019s annual in-season tournament runs through June 17 with a championship game played 13 days later. The best team from each conference in cup play will compete for the Commissioner\u2019s Cup title.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The competition counts toward a team\u2019s regular-season record and is a chance for teams to invest in their local communities. Every team in the league competes for over $200,000 in combined donations to nonprofits that they\u2019ve partnered with. Teams can earn a $3,000 donation per cup game win while losing teams earn $1,000.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For the Valkyries, every win will funnel a donation to <\/span>Youth UpRising<\/span>, an Oakland organization that works to transform East Oakland by developing youth leadership.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase said the driving force behind how the Valkyries approach the Commissioner\u2019s Cup games is the opportunity to donate to a good cause.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe extra stakes come from us being able to raise money for the community,\u201d Nakase said. \u201cSo, for us, when you\u2019re playing for something like that, where we can help the community, that\u2019s where we\u2019re big on. I would always take this very seriously, but having a why behind that, I think that generates a little bit more energy for these games.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Last year, the Valkyries went 3-3 in cup games but were hindered by having multiple players leave for the EuroBasket tournament. The Indiana Fever won the 2025 Commissioner\u2019s Cup championship after going 5-0 in cup play and beating the Minnesota Lynx in the cup final.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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With the Fire and the Toronto Tempo becoming the 14th and 15th teams in the league, the format has changed slightly. Eastern Conference teams will play six cup games while teams in the West will play seven.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The team with the best record in cup games will be the host of the cup championship game. The winners of the championship will win a pool prize of $500,000 \u2013 something that hasn\u2019t gone unnoticed by the players.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe approach every game the same, so of course it\u2019s always nice when maybe you\u2019re playing for an extra bonus or more incentive behind it,\u201d Valkyries point guard Veronica Burton said. \u201cBut in terms of preparation and approach it remains the same.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Valkyries will have one of the tougher slates of games remaining on their cup schedule, starting with a matchup at Minnesota on Thursday. Golden State will follow that up with games against Las Vegas, Phoenix, Seattle, Los Angeles and Dallas.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Despite being in their second year of existence, the Valkyries have players and coaches who have won Commissioner\u2019s Cup championships.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Nakase and starting center Kiah Stokes won the 2022 Commissioner\u2019s Cup with the Aces. Thornton helped the Liberty take the in-season tournament title in 2023, as did forward Cecilia Zandalasini with the Minnesota Lynx in 2024.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more Los Gatos celebrates first raising of Pride flag<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The teams have charity funds on the line — and an increased pool of prize goes to the Commissioner’s Cup winners.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1107,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1108","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\nValkyries seek more than Commissioner’s Cup trophy as they open tournament with win - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1108\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Valkyries seek more than Commissioner’s Cup trophy as they open tournament with win - Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The teams have charity funds on the line -- and an increased pool of prize goes to the Commissioner's Cup winners.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1108\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-03T15:12:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=1108#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=1108\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"headline\":\"Valkyries seek more than Commissioner’s Cup trophy as they open tournament with win\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-03T15:12:53+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=1108\"},\"wordCount\":631,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=1108#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/2d8fa10533cd2d283b16e0c104fd6c70.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Sports\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=1108#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=1108\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=1108\",\"name\":\"Valkyries seek more than Commissioner’s Cup trophy as they open tournament with win - 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