Kiah Stokes stepped off the ferry at the Valkyries’ championship parade with a message across her chest. It wasn’t a slogan. It was a chart ranking five teams as the best bets to win the WNBA title, with the Valkyries nowhere on the list. Fresh off her fourth championship, Stokes had a reminder for those who had overlooked Golden State.

ESPN Insights, the network’s analytics account, answered on X on Wednesday with a joke and an apology:

“How’s this look, @kstokes41? 😅Golden State was 6th on the leaderboard when we posted it on July 26, but went 13-4 from there! ESPN Analytics had the Valkyries as title favorites by August 10. Sorry we were a little late to the party 🏆”

The post came with a new chart. As of Nov. 4, ESPN’s WNBA Basketball Power Index gave the Valkyries a 100% chance of winning the Finals, reflecting their championship victory on Saturday.

Stokes’ shirt copied ESPN Analytics’ ranking from July 26. The Indiana Fever led at 24%, followed by the Las Vegas Aces (23%), the Minnesota Lynx (16%), the New York Liberty (15%), and the Atlanta Dream (13%). The Valkyries were sixth, so they never made the list.

The doubts were easy to understand. The Valkyries had no star, and they finished with no All-WNBA player, a first for a champion. On draft night, they traded the No. 8 pick for two second-round picks. When center Iliana Rupert was ruled out for the season because of maternity leave, their frontcourt looked thin.

They were 10-7 at the midpoint and just 3-6 against teams that made the playoffs. ESPN’s chart came during that stretch. After it, Golden State went 13-4 and finished 32-12 as the No. 2 seed.

Stokes was part of the answer. She signed in free agency one day after Williams, in a move that was easy to miss. She had spent four seasons with Las Vegas, won three titles there, and played for Nakase for one year. When Rupert was ruled out, Stokes started every game.

In the 2026 postseason, Stokes recorded 31 blocks, tying Lisa Leslie’s WNBA record for most blocks in a single postseason. She also finished the Finals with 19 blocks, setting a new record for the championship series. She slowed A’ja Wilson in the semifinal sweep and Angel Reese for most of the Finals. Her four rings put her in a group of seven players. Rebekkah Brunson holds the record with five.

By October, ESPN’s numbers had caught up. Before the Finals, its BPI gave the Valkyries a 62.4% chance and the Dream a 37.6% chance. The Dream had more star power and a better offensive rating, 112.9 to 110.0. But Golden State had the best defense, was 3-0 against Atlanta in the regular season, and was 17-5 at home. The pick held up.

What went right was defense and depth. Golden State allowed a league-low 75.1 points per game and posted a defensive rating of 99.1, more than four points better than any other team. The bench set a record, averaging 35.9 points a game. Williams, the Finals MVP, finished second in the Defensive Player of the Year voting.

The offense was the weak spot. No player averaged 15 points, and the team was last in field-goal percentage at 42.2%. It nearly ended their season in the first round, when they trailed Dallas by 16 in a winner-take-all Game 3 and came back. In the Finals, they scored 68, 67, 64, and 68 points in their four wins

What comes next is a question of money and stars. Golden State has only $3.2 million guaranteed for 2027, which leaves room for a max player. Napheesa Collier, Jackie Young, Kelsey Mitchell and Kelsey Plum are all free agents. Kayla Thornton and Tiffany Hayes are free agents on the Valkyries’ own roster, Cecilia Zandalasini is restricted, and Kaitlyn Chen is reserved.

Owner Joe Lacob ducked questions about who he might call, and Nakase, for now, wants to enjoy the title: “Let’s enjoy the moment.” Stokes told NBC Bay Area’s camera that the team is just getting started. For this season, ESPN’s new chart agrees: Valkyries, 100%.