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The Golden State Warriors have been awarded a WNBA expansion team that will begin playing in the 2025 season.
WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert stated, “The right time, the right moment is today.” She continued, “this will help welcome the next generation of leaders, mothers, and athletes.”
The WNBA will join the Golden State Warriors in 2025.
Joe Lacob, CEO and Co-Executive Chairman of the Golden State Warriors, stated, “The Bay Area is the perfect market for a WNBA team, and we are thrilled this opportunity has finally come to fruition.”
The WNBA expansion team was planned prior to the opening of the Chase Center in 2019.
As Lacob asserted, “We have been interested in a WNBA franchise for several years, due in part to the rich history of women’s basketball in the Bay Area, and believe now is the ideal time to execute that vision and build upon that legacy.”
The team will be headquartered and train in Oakland at the Warriors’ former practice provision, where they still conduct their youth summer camps.
As a big fan of the WNBA, Lacob was inspired by Tara VanDerveer, Stanford head women’s basketball coach and all-time leader in basketball wins, who he believed paved the way for women’s sports.
Lacob sees VanDerveer as “the goddess of women’s basketball” and made him more invested. He stated, “I wouldn’t care as much about women’s basketball if it weren’t for her.”
Lacob says a championship is coming to the Bay within the first five years of the WNBA team.
For the WNBA’s franchise front office, Lacob wants it to be operated by female executives from top to bottom. Further, he’s also stated he will hire women to run the team with tradition and non-traditional work experiences.
Lacob stated, “The league is really poised to take off in a big way. We believe that. We want to be apart of that.” He added, “this is the time to jump in.”
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