Valkyries star Kayla Thornton to miss the rest of the season after suffering knee injury in practice
Golden State will play the rest of the 2025 season without their All-Star forward, who had to undergo surgery on Friday
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The Golden State Valkyries will have to play out the remainder of the 2025 season without All-Star forward Kayla Thornton after she suffered a knee injury in practice earlier this week that required season-ending surgery on Friday.
Thornton has been the leader of the Valkyries terrific start to their inaugural season. Golden State has exceeded all expectations with a 10-12 start that has the team 9th in the WNBA and in the mix for a playoff spot. Thornton leads Golden State in scoring (14.0 points per game), rebounding (7.0 rebounds per game) and steals (1.2 steals per game), all of which have been career-highs and led to her earning her first All-Star selection earlier this month.
Thornton is one of two Valkyries players to appear in all 22 games this season, along with Veronica Burton, and Golden State will have to adapt to life without its top player in the second half of the year. While replacing her scoring will be one challenge, the Valkyries built their identity in this first year as a dominant defensive team and Thornton's versatility is at the center of that.
They will now have to restructure their approach on both ends of the floor in Thornton's absence and lean even further on the collective group to fill that void. The Valkyries depth will be tested without Thornton, as players like Laeticia Amihere, Cecilia Zandalasini and Monique Billings figure to take on bigger roles going forward.
