When the Golden State Valkyries made their first-ever WNBA Draft pick, they selected Lithuanian guard Justė Jocytė, a player with an identical nickname to Stephen Curry, the centerpiece of four championship runs with Golden State's NBA franchise. Jocytė earned the nickname 'baby-faced assassin' due to her competitive spirit and gifted skill set, allowing her to play professional basketball at an extremely young age. She made her pro debut in Moterų Lietuvos Krepšinio Lyga (Lithuanian Women's Basketball League) at age 13, becoming the youngest player to ever debut in that league and at age 14, she became the youngest to play in Ligue Féminine de Basketball (France’s top Women’s Basketball league) and the EuroLeague.

“She is a phenomenal athlete," Valkyries General Manager Ohemaa Nyanin said. "We didn’t take her being the youngest athlete to play in EuroLeague lightly. For her to still be available at five was super important to us.”

Jocytė was highly productive in her Lithuanian pro debut, tallying 21 points, five rebounds, five assists and three steals in a blowout win. Jocytė has done quite a bit of winning in her professional career, winning a silver medal in FIBA’s U16 EuroBasket at age 13 and capturing gold in FIBA’s U18 EuroBasket at age 16. During her silver medal run, she was named to the All-Star Five as one of the top-five players in the tournament and she won MVP in her gold medal run. For Nyanin, Jocytė's experience playing against high-level WNBA-caliber competition and her success in those matchups was valuable.

"Being competitive at such a young age and playing against other athletes within the WNBA ecosystem is amazing,” Nyanin said.

In her over five-year international basketball career, Jocytė has displayed a comfortability with the ball in her hands. She has thrived as a lead ball handler for the offense, tasked with being a go-to scorer and playmaker. Jocytė has showcased the ability to manipulate defenses and make the right reads in the pick-and-roll. Nyanin described her as a very intelligent player and her ability to execute difficult passes with proper timing is evidence of her basketball IQ. Jocytė is also a volume 3-point shooter, able to make the defense pay when given space on the perimeter and a reliable free throw shooter. The Valkyries' first-round selection was another example of the franchise choosing international talent, but Nyanin insisted that the team is simply looking for a play style that is conducive to Head Coach Natalie Nakase's principles. 

“Regardless where an athlete is from, we’re looking at their competitiveness, how they can fit in Coach Natalie’s system and the level of talent they’re going against,” Nyanin said.

The Valkyries' General Manager isn't putting pressure on Jocytė to be the 'face of the franchise' and wants that role to be filled organically. 

“I very much so want this to be an organic process," Nyanin said prior to the draft. "I'm not looking for a face of the franchise yet. Who’s going to earn it? I don’t want it to be given — if you work really hard at it, you're not going to mismanage it when it’s given to you.”

Jocytė's work ethic has been instilled in her from a very young age and her hard work has paid off in a professional capacity throughout her teens. Valkyries fans will be able to follow her journey as the franchise tips off its inaugural season at Chase Center on May 16.