Game 1: Golden State Valkyries vs Los Angeles Sparks, 7:00 PM PDT. OPENING DAY!

win or lose, it will be a party

I will attend as credentialed media, so if you have any ideas for questions for me to ask coaches or players, let me know in the comments.

How to watch

• ION, available on Fubo and YouTube TV and elsewhere

• WNBA League Pass if you are out of the blackout region

Injury report

• Valkyries

  • Stephanie Talbot - OUT - Right Quad

  • Cecilia Zandalasini - OUT - Right foot

  • Kate Martin - PROBABLE - Right Hand

• Sparks

  • Julie Allemand - OUT Left Knee

  • Cameron Brink - NWT Left Knee

What to expect

From the Valkyries:

• High energy

• Fast pace

• Aggressive defense

• Three-point shooting

• Five-out sets

The LA Sparks actually have a lot of star power with their roster:

• Cameron Brink (injured)

• Kelsey Plum

• Rae Burrell

• Azurá Stevens

• Dearica Hamby

• Rickea Jackson

• Mercedes Russell

• Odyssey Sims

• Julie Allemand

The state of the Valkyries roster

We reviewed the final roster recently:

• Valkyries announce final roster; waive fan favorites Amihere, Bibby, Cunane, Chen and Toure

• With Talbot and Zandalasini out, expect the same rotations from the last preseason game…

• Probable Starters, slightly scoring challenged

  • #15 Tiffany Hayes

  • #5 Kayla Thornton

  • #14 Temi Fágbénlé

  • #25 Monique Billings

  • #22 Veronica Burton

• Entertaining Bench, slightly chaotic

  • #0 Carla Leite

  • #20 Kate Martin

  • #35 Julie Vanloo

  • #31 Kyara Linskens

• Out

  • #7 Stephanie Talbot and #24 Cecilia Zandalasini;

• Probably Confirmed Out

  • #13 Janelle Salaün, Just arrived in USA with a fresh Finals MVP from Italian championships, but also with no practice.

Also

• On the whole Amihere cut controversy, Richard Cohen says:

From their usage in the preseason games, Kaitlyn Chen, Chloe Bibby and Elissa Cunane had looked essentially gone for a while. But both Laeticia Amihere and Mamignan Touré were involved in the rotation during the preseason games and looked like they might make it. Both were cut, with Belgian center Kyara Linskens making the final 12 instead. Maybe they were looking to keep the additional true size of Linskens, but the fact that they would've had to decide on Amihere's fourth-year team option by May 15 may also have been a factor. Either they committed to that guaranteed contract in her fourth year, or Amihere would've been an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season even if they kept her all year. Instead they decided to let her go and keep Linskens, whose rights they'll control at the end of the season if she's still on the roster.