Golden example: Valkyries provide Tempo a template for WNBA expansion success
CBC
Nell Fortner is pleading patience.
That's Canada's national women's basketball team head coach's advice for fans of the incoming Toronto Tempo, who will begin play in the WNBA next season.
And Fortner would know — she was the head coach of the expansion Indiana Fever in 2000.
"It was hard. I remember going on a 10-game losing streak … it was really, really hard. So you just have to be patient and just keep working your process, keep working your values and your culture," Fortner said.
Even during her first training camp, Fortner had already crossed paths with Tempo president Teresa Resch and general manager Monica Wright Rogers.
She recalled how her Fever struggled to a 9-23 record in their first year, but were rewarded at the subsequent entry draft with the pick of Tamika Catchings that helped turn the franchise's fortunes.
Twenty-five years later, Fortner predicted less pain for the Tempo than she experienced with the Fever.
"Here's what I told [Resch]," Fortner said. "Y'all are in a much better position now because the talent is so much better. And there's so much more of it. I mean, it's just a worldwide game right now. Golden State's talent is primarily international. I'm like, 'dang man, that wasn't like that [when I coached].'"
Indeed, the Golden State Valkyries — who entered the league this season — can provide hope and a template to the Tempo.
The Valkyries came in as the first of six expansion franchises set to transform the WNBA into an 18-team outfit by 2030.
Toronto and Portland will be next up in 2026, followed by Cleveland, Philadelphia and Detroit later in the decade.
Golden State arrived with low expectations — and rightfully so, given that the league's previous four expansion teams, dating from 2000 to 2008, combined for a 24-108 record.
ESPN's projection handed the Valkyries 15.7 wins. None of the U.S. sports media giant's experts predicted Golden State would make the playoffs.
And yet, the leagues newest team sits 10-12 at the all-star break, right in the mix for a post-season spot.
