Ballhalla Rise Up!

You know what’s my favorite thing about Ballhalla?

It’s actually more of a specific scene than a “thing.” And it’s something that happens all the time at Chase Center. Big games, clutch games, early-season Tuesday night games in the middle of May, doesn’t matter. Let me paint the picture for you….

It’s the first quarter. Score’s like 10–7. We’ve made some shots. Missed some shots. Nothing major’s really gone down. In that arena, though, up in the stands? It’s just….

Hella loud!!!!!!

Maybe we got a steal and a bucket, or someone from the other team dribbled the ball off her foot, or whatever it may be, and their coach calls a timeout, and our crowd….

They’re just absolutely going nuts. 

Everyone’s on their feet. People in purple wigs screaming at the top of their lungs. Little kids with rubber swords and shields all hopping up and down. GSV chants echoing like crazy. It’s so loud you can’t even really hear what the person next to you is saying. If it’s your first time at Chase Center, you’re probably like.… This doesn’t even make sense. It’s 10–7. Ten seven!!! I just got my popcorn!!

And then, down on the court … it happens. 

The players on the other team, especially the rookies, the newbies who don’t know how we do, they’re looking around like…. What in the world is thiiiiiis? Like….

Where am I right now?!?!?!?!?

They walk past our bench, and … it’s almost like they can’t help themselves. They’ll look up at the fans, and be shaking their heads, and then they’ll ask us like….

“Yo, are they like this all the time?!?!?!?!”

And everyone on our team? Hahahaha … we just kinda smile. We have this look in our eyes. We all just start nodding our heads like….

“All day, every day! Absolutely!! Ballhalla, baby! We’re just built different out here!!!!!!”

So yeah, that right there … that’s my favorite thing about Valks fans. At 10–7, it’s already popping.

The second thing is easy. 

It’s all the jerseys. The way the city reps us.  

If you live out here … you know what I mean. They’re everywhere you look in The Bay! But it’s more than that, actually. There’s a twist. 

I’m always telling my mom and dad that I’ve never seen so much violet in my life. And it always makes me feel so happy and grateful when I see people walking around out here wearing one of my #15 jerseys. But that’s not even what I’m talking about right now. What I love more than anything is not that our fans support me, it’s that they support … literally everyone on our team. Our fans are out there wearing jerseys of everybody on our roster. 

They love who they love. 

It’s so cool to me that our fans are equal-opportunity supporters, you know what I mean? We’ve got someone for everyone. 

Actually, you know what, I take it back … that may not be second, that actually may be tied for first, honestly. 

I love that so much.   

And speaking of love, now that I’m thinking about it, while we’re here … I need you all to know that I’m someone who fell in love with The Bay right from the very start. Like as soon as I touched down on the plane. 

I hadn’t spent much time out here prior to signing with the Valks, so I actually didn’t really know what I was in for. I still remember that day last year when I arrived for the first time. I’d recently won the Sixth Player of the Year award after my one season in Vegas. But for whatever reason, something just really drew me to Golden State. I loved the idea of doing something that might be uncomfortable, and trying to build something from the ground up. And, maybe most of all, I loved Coach Nakase. She’d taught me so much as my position coach with the Aces, and everything about following her on this new journey just felt right to me. 

So I hopped on a plane honestly knowing very little about The Bay. I basically just thought I’d be getting lots of sun and a huge helping of beautiful California weather. (Which … I guess shows you just how deficient my knowledge about NorCal was back then. LOL.)       

Anyway, I remember I get off the plane, and I’m driving across the Bay Bridge for the first time and seeing that view of the city and all the water and the hills and the Golden Gate in the distance, and … it took my breath away. 

Like really. I don’t think I ever understood that expression before. I was gasping, you guys. (To this day, I still love driving across that bridge. It never gets old. I don’t even care if I’m sitting in traffic. I love it that much.) And things honestly just got better from there. 

Sometimes I’ll be at the beach with my dogs, and I might be meditating next to the water, or taking in the views of the Golden Gate Bridge, and I almost can’t believe how lucky I am to have found my way to this amazing place. 

And, by far, the thing I’m most grateful for out here is the people. 

Ever since I got here, I’ve felt like I’m actually from here, if that makes sense. Right from the jump I felt the community vibe, and that the people here were looking out for me. 

You guys, seriously, thank you for the down-low on the restaurants, and the dog parks, and for like … explaining to me what “hyphy” means … and for teaching me about the microclimates, and all that. Just everything.  

The Bay embraced me with open arms, and I appreciate that so much. 

Right in line with that, one of the things I’ve definitely enjoyed most about being out here for the past few years is that I’ve been lucky enough to meet and get to know so many people in The Bay. I have such fond memories dating back to the earliest days of my time as a Valk, when me and some of my teammates headed out to Oakland for this mural painting event that the Valkyries and Kaiser Permanente teamed up to host. It was basically this huge block party on Webster Street in downtown Oakland … food trucks, artists, good music … and it was absolutely packed out there. It was like the whole Bay showed up. And then we all worked together to help paint this beautiful, gigantic mural on the side of a building with some hoopers on it and these cool purple birds and “Valkyries” written in this slick graffiti font. It’s so dope. 

That afternoon really gave me a good sense of what this place is all about. I couldn’t stop smiling the entire time. (I remember I brought my dog, and even my dog was out there with the people having a blast.) And now there’s this awesome mural there that we all worked together to create. I still drive by that painting every now and again, just specifically to see it. And to relive those memories. 

I really hope that mural will be there for a long, long time.

That thing better be there when we’re planning our parade route.

I don’t know if it’s gonna be this year, or some other time in that famous five-year window, or when….

But I wanna see that thing when we’re cruising around The Bay on top of that big bus. 

And look, I can hear the doubters already: Your team has only been around for two years! What are you talking about championship parades for? Slow your roll!   

But … this isn’t just any old town. This is The Bay! 

We’re not afraid to dream big in the Bay Area. It’s kinda what we do, actually. 

We’re just built different out here!

Yes, I said we! Thanks for embracing a vet!

–Tiffany

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Kaiser Permanente is proud to be a founding partner of the Golden State Valkyries. Following a groundbreaking inaugural season in 2025, the partnership continues to build upon our shared Bay Area roots advancing health, community, and women’s sports.

Want to see more from Tip and Kaiser Permanente? Watch Built to Last on SI.com to learn more about how the Kaiser Permanente care team helps support performance, recovery, and total health — on and off the court.