The Golden State Valkyries will hold their expansion draft on Friday night, but fans will not know which players the WNBA’s newest franchise ultimately passes on.
The pool of players available for Golden State to choose from will not be revealed on ESPN’s broadcast of the draft, multiple media outlets reported. Only the players picked by the Valkyries will be shown.
The WNBA’s other 12 teams had until Nov. 25 to submit a list of six players that Golden State would not be eligible to draft, leaving the rest of their respective rosters unprotected.
The league has not explained why it is concealing the draft pool. Other sports leagues, including the NHL in 2021, have revealed which players were unprotected in their expansion draft.
However, the WNBA may want to avoid breeding extra tension between players and the teams that expose them to the draft. Players not selected by the Valkyries will return to their original squad.
The Seattle Storm and Las Vegas Aces are already dealing with player-related issues. The Storm opened an investigation last month into allegations of player mistreatment by the team’s coaching staff, while the Aces are still involved in a discrimination suit filed by current Los Angeles Sparks forward Dearica Hamby, who played for Las Vegas from 2018-22.
–Field Level Media
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