The Golden State Valkyries begin the WNBA Commissioner’s Cup, presented by Coinbase, this Sunday, June 1 against the Minnesota Lynx at 7 p.m. at Chase Center.

The Commissioner’s Cup is an annual in-season tournament in which the top team from each conference with the best Commissioner’s Cup record will compete for a $500,000 prize pool in the Championship game. The Commissioner’s Cup will also make charitable contributions to non-profit organizations aligned to the players’ social justice work, which will be presented to each organization at the conclusion of the Commissioner’s Cup Championship on Tuesday, July 1.

The non-profit beneficiary as chosen by Valkyries athletes is CURYJ (pronounced ‘courage’), which has been building community and mobilizing young leaders in the movement to end youth criminalization and mass incarceration since 2011. Located in Oakland, CURYJ unlocks the leadership of young people to dream beyond bars by providing life coaching, professional development, political education, and hands-on experience working on policy and grassroots campaigns. 

The Valkyries will play six Commissioner's Cup games against their Western Conference foes, including three at Chase Center against the reigning Commissioner's Cup Champion Lynx (June 1), Las Vegas (June 7) and Seattle (June 14). Three of four all-time Commissioner’s Cup champions have come from the Western Conference (2024 - Minnesota; 2022 - Las Vegas; 2021 - Seattle). Four current Valkyries have won the Commissioner’s Cup in Cecilia Zandalasini (2024 with Minnesota), Kayla Thornton (2023 with New York), Head Coach Natalie Nakase (2022 with Las Vegas), and Stephane Talbot (2021 with Seattle).

Golden State Valkyries Commissioner’s Cup schedule (subject to change):