Fastest expansion teams to win a championship: Where Valkyries rank among quickest title winners in sports history

November 1, 2026

The Golden State Valkyries have rewritten WNBA history by capturing their first championship in just two seasons as a franchise, a record-breaking achievement that surpasses any expansion team’s speed to a title in North American professional sports since at least 1967. After entering the league in 2025 with no roster and no games played, the Valkyries dominated their inaugural campaign and clinched the 2026 WNBA Finals in a dramatic Game 7 victory over the Las Vegas Aces, securing a 68–63 win to claim the trophy.

Their two-season turnaround shatters the previous fastest mark set by the 1970–71 Milwaukee Bucks, who won their first NBA title in three seasons after drafting Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1969. Beyond basketball, only the 1949–50 Minneapolis Lakers and 1948 Baltimore Bullets in the NBA, the 2001 Arizona Diamondbacks and 1997 Florida Marlins in MLB, and the 2004 Seattle Storm in the WNBA had matched a championship within five years of expansion—none as quickly as Golden State’s historic run.