Gabby Williams spent 2026 collecting trophies on two continents, and the last one came on Halloween night in San Francisco. Her 30 points in Game 7 lifted the Golden State Valkyries past the Atlanta Dream 68-63 for the franchise’s first WNBA title, and earned her Finals MVP.
Four weeks earlier, she had beaten Victor Wembanyama for France’s player of the year award.
A Nevada kid who leads France
Williams was raised in Sparks, Nevada. Her mother is French, which made her eligible for France’s national team, and she now captains Les Bleues.
At the 2024 Paris Olympics, France lost the gold medal game to the United States 67-66. This September in Berlin, she led France to its first FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup final. Team USA won again, 97-79, but FIBA named Williams to the tournament’s All-Star Five and picked her as Best Defensive Player.
The closest vote against Wemby
That run earned her the Alain-Gilles Trophy, France’s basketball player of the year honor, voted on by the national federation, former national team players, media and fans. She edged Wembanyama by just nine points, the closest race in the award’s history, according to FIBA. Her year also included a EuroLeague Women title with Fenerbahçe in Turkey.
None of that guaranteed a WNBA breakout. Williams was the No. 4 pick in 2018 out of UConn and spent seven seasons with the Chicago Sky and Seattle Storm, mostly as a defensive role player. Her career scoring average is still under 10 points a game, ESPN noted. Valkyries owner Joe Lacob recruited her personally while she was playing in Turkey.
Two points at halftime, then history
In Game 7, Williams had two points at the break, with Atlanta up 30-24. Then she scored 28 in the second half, the most by any player in one half of a WNBA postseason game.
She also scored 15 straight points across the third and fourth quarters, a first in a WNBA Finals game according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Her fourth 3-pointer, with 2:18 left, put Golden State ahead for good.
The Valkyries say she is the only player ever to post 30 points, four blocks and two steals in a Finals game.
San Francisco is throwing the Valkyries a championship parade on November 4, 2026, four days after the title.
Next time France faces Team USA, watch No. 15, the star the Americans have now beaten in two finals.
