Versatile Valkyries guard Veronica Burton helps second-year franchise challenge WNBA elites

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Veronica Burton could exhale at last, the final buzzer having sounded just moments earlier on a 20-point win over the Los Angeles Sparks, and then offer a shout out for two important people in the stands with the entire arena listening.

“My message to my mom and dad is I love you,” she said, “and thank you for always supporting me.”

What a two years it has been for Burton since Dallas let her go and she landed with the expansion Golden State Valkyries last season. And, like her parents, she knows everything about supporting roles as the team's do-everything point guard with Golden State challenging some of the WNBA elites for the top spot in the standings.

On Friday, the league's reigning Most Improved Player will be in Dallas to go against the Wings team that cut her.

“I don’t take any moment in this league for granted. I definitely think that kind of set the tone for my career, too, in a matter of how I approach the game," she said. "I’ve transformed the way I play and the way I approach training camp and every game. There’s a confidence there that maybe wasn’t necessarily there before. I learned from it but it also motivates me.”

Burton is constantly evaluating what makes the team go, from her smothering defense igniting the 3-point attack and offensive rhythm to what it takes for everybody to buy into a game plan on a given night.

She is in the top 10 for assists at 5.6 per game and ranks among the top 20 in steals averaging 1.3.

Burton’s influence, however, goes well beyond what she does at point guard, too. So much so that coach Natalie Nakase counts on her seeing things in real time that maybe even the coaches might miss.

“Vi just finds joy by making her teammates look amazing,” Nakase said. “Vi’s just doing what she does well.”

Burton has come so far to take on this role for the second-year franchise, constantly looking to create, to be aggressive and set the tone defensively.

She has become a face of the franchise that became the first expansion organization to reach the playoffs in its inaugural season last year — and the Valkyries (21-9) appear poised for another run.

“My aggression on both sides of the basketball, there’s a confidence,” she said. “I’m not really letting things come to me, I’m kind of going after them.”

Golden State lost to top-seeded Minnesota 75-74 in Game 2 of its first-round series following a 101-72 loss in Game 1. After that, Burton had a whirlwind offseason that included playing for the national team and in the Unrivaled 3-on-3 league.

She believes that experience made her an even better defender.

“You’re kind of on your own on an island,” said Burton, the seventh overall pick in the 2022 draft. “You have to play 1-on-1 defense and fighting through ball screens, off-ball screens, I definitely think you get better with that or you get scored on."

Burton’s renewed confidence has been a work-in-progress. She occasionally still finds herself thinking back to Dallas letting her go before the 2024 season began and all the belief and hard work it has taken to rebuild her WNBA career after that heartbreak and disappointment. It started when Connecticut gave her a fresh chance that June, then Golden State selected Burton in the expansion draft six months later in December.

“It definitely feels like a long time ago now and I think sometimes when I get reminded, it’s been a few years now but it still was somewhat recent,” she said. “So I think I’ll always have that as a motivation and a reminder to not really get comfortable or complacent."

Of course Burton is a big believer in second chances at anything in life, taking time out of her hectic pregame schedule to encourage a formerly incarcerated man, James Duff, on his new path and inquire about his journey. She also was among the Valkyries who visited a juvenile justice center last month to support the youth.

A fifth-year guard out of Northwestern, the 26-year-old Burton signed a new contract in April after recording career-bests of 11.9 points, 4.4 rebounds and six assists last season while starting all 44 games. She was the league’s only player to lead their team in total points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocked shots.

“I think that speaks to who she is, and she plays like that,” Sparks coach Lynne Roberts said. “There’s an underdog kind of mentality to her that I love. I respect that so much. She’s been told, ‘you’re not good enough’ and human nature is to buy into that or to believe it and she didn’t believe it, and worked on herself, worked on her game and plays with a little bit of a chip on her shoulder. You can see it in her defense, you can see she’s just locked in, a true competitor.”

Burton blocked a career-high five shots in a 90-88 victory over Caitlin Clark and the Fever on May 28 — defending Clark from the opening tip in a team effort that held her to 3-for-12 shooting and force her into five turnovers.

“I take a lot of pride in it. The culture that we built here is something that’s really special and something that I don’t take lightly,” Burton said. “So to be able to come back and have old faces and also bring in some new people and kind of get them up to speed, it’s definitely a level of pride but also a level of joy.”

Burton doesn't only thank her parents publicly. She praised the Valkyries’ violet-clad home crowd in “Ballhalla” — a play on Valhalla from Norse mythology — with sellouts night after night, and in every home date so far the past two seasons at Chase Center.

“Ballhalla is the best," she shouted, "I love you all!”

And Valkyries fans are showing love right back to Burton and her team.

AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball