Valkryies, Dream head for locker room during national anthem ahead of WNBA Finals Game 1 thriller

Read the original at New York Post ↗
Cite

Martinez, V. (2026, October 18). Valkryies, Dream head for locker room during national anthem ahead of WNBA Finals Game 1 thriller. New York Post. https://nypost.com/2026/10/17/sports/valkryies-dream-left-for-locker-room-during-national-anthem-before-wnba-finals-game-1/

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

New York Post · collected 2026-10-18 · by Valentina Martinez

Quick Summary

In the lead-up to Game 1 of the WNBA Finals between the Valkyries and Dream, both teams skipped the national anthem by heading to their locker rooms and returning shortly after. This move is reminiscent of previous protests by the Dream in 2020 over the anthem’s representation. The Valkyries won the game at Ballhalla, Chase Center, with a close score of 68-64, securing them a 1-0 series lead. Head coach Natalie Nakase encouraged fans to support more enthusiastically for Game 2 on Monday.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-18, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

Summary unavailable.

Written for “WNBA Finals Dream Vs Valkyries” on 2026-10-19, grounded in this article and the 10 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 WNBA Finals Dream Vs Valkyries
Sports · 11 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 7% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Fox News
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 18 📰 publisher trust 67
“Both articles describe the exact same incident of the Atlanta Dream and Golden State Valkyries leaving the court during the national anthem before Game 1 of the WNBA Finals and returning shortly after.”
Toronto Star
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 13 📰 publisher trust 63
“Article A discusses Allisha Gray's potential participation due to an injury before Game 1 of the WNBA Finals, while Article B reports on both teams heading to their locker rooms during the national anthem at the start of Game 1.”
Fox News
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 4% hedged 2 of 49 📰 publisher trust 67
“The articles describe different parts of the same game; Article A focuses on the final minutes and scoring details, while Article B reports on a pre-game incident involving both teams skipping the national anthem.”
Toronto Star
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 3% hedged 1 of 30 📰 publisher trust 63
“Both articles describe Game 1 of the WNBA Finals on the same date, mentioning the pre-game national anthem incident and the game's outcome involving Valkyries winning against Dream.”
Toronto Star
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 5% hedged 2 of 39 📰 publisher trust 63
“While both articles discuss the WNBA Finals between the Atlanta Dream and Golden State Valkyries, Article A focuses on pre-game analysis of defensive strategies, while Article B reports on a specific incident during the national anthem before Game 1.”
New York Post
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 11 📰 publisher trust 67
“Article A describes Steph Curry wearing Veronica Burton's jersey to support the Valkyries ahead of Game 1, while Article B reports on both teams leaving the court during the national anthem before Game 1. These are different specific events occurring at different times.”
Al Jazeera
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 18 📰 publisher trust 60
“Article A focuses on the teams' absence during the national anthem before Game 1, while Article B describes the gameplay and scoring details of Game 1 itself.”
Toronto Star
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 8% hedged 2 of 25 📰 publisher trust 63
“Article A discusses the anticipation of the WNBA Finals series starting between Valkyries and Dream, while Article B reports on a separate incident where both teams left during the national anthem before Game 1 of the finals.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
14
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
7%
1 of 14 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
67/100
New York Post's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
11
Sports
Same framing elsewhere
11
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-18 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

New York Post · 11592 article(s) · 32 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 32 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Valentina Martinez
112 article(s) here · 0 carrying a prediction
🔮 Reese, who was ranked the top player in the Finals by ESPN, will get another chance to dominate in all four quarters in Game 2 against Golden State on Monday.
🔮 “In my opinion, there were some pitch selections — I don’t know if it came from Will Smith or it was the pitcher himself — and they put the Milwaukee Brewers in a position to flex their muscles when the Dodgers should have been flexing theirs.
🔮 Kiké Hernandez may have played his final game with the Dodgers.
🔮 The Dodgers, who face an uncertain future after the failed quest for a three-peat, will need Tucker to play at All-Star strength the entire 2027 season as one of the many veterans on the roster.
🔮 Their performance has been anything but impressive, however, a win over the Chiefs ahead of the bye week would surely help the low morale in the Chargers’ building.
🔮 The Lakers have an abundance of wings, including Matisse Thybulle, Ziaire Williams, Adou Thiero, Cameron Carr and Jake LaRavia.
🔮 Now, it appears there might be an opportunity for Baldelli to return to MLB as a manager with the Mariners.
🔮 The Dodgers will have a new look in 2027.
🔮 There are still questions surrounding the Lakers defense heading into the 2026-27 campaign, but the offense is expected to have plenty of firepower.
🔮 “I would love to be back.
Also by Valentina Martinez
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 112 articles by Valentina Martinez →

Topics

Dream Game 2 Golden State Valkyries the WNBA Finals

Subjects

Dream ORG · 4× Valkyries ORG · 4× Golden State ORG · 2× Instagram ORG · 2× TikTok ORG · 2× YouTube ORG · 2× Americans NORP · 1× Atlanta GPE · 1× Nakase PERSON · 1× Natalie Nakase PERSON · 1×

Narrative

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framing: assertive · carried by 11 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-22
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2026-10-09 · New York Post
Rams get major injury boost ahead of Josh Allen showdown · assertive framing
2026-10-11 · New York Post
NHL goalie’s unexpected pregame companion has fans hopping with excitement · assertive framing

Claims (14 extracted, 1 hedged)

The Valkyries and Dream squared off in Game 1 of the WNBA Finals. asserted
Valkyries → square → Finals
Golden State earned its first Finals win in franchise history Saturday, but the event already made headlines because of what transpired before the matchup. asserted
what → earn → matchup
Instead, the teams headed for the locker room during the song and returned seconds after. asserted
teams → head → song
It’s unclear whether that was an orchestrated concept by both teams, but Atlanta has protested the national anthem before. uncertain
Atlanta → ’ → anthem
The Dream issued a team statement in 2020, saying “the anthem does not represent freedom, justice and liberty for all Americans.” asserted
anthem → issue → Americans
It remains to be seen whether the trend continues for Game 2 and beyond. asserted
trend → remain → Game
The Valkyries protected home court at Ballhalla, the Chase Center, Saturday with a huge 68-64 win over the Dream. asserted
Valkyries → protect → Dream
Golden State has proved to be a popular commodity all season long, selling out all home games in the regular season. asserted
State → prove → season
Now, the Valkyries have a 1-0 series lead in the WNBA Finals. asserted
Valkyries → have → Finals
Head coach Natalie Nakase has asked fans to “level up” for Game 2 on Monday. asserted
Nakase → ask → Monday
“Once I get on there and I start to write my notes and I start to write my notes on the board, I kind of actually block everything out. asserted
I → get → everything
But I did feel a different roar,” Nakase said. asserted
Nakase → feel → roar
“I was excited, they were really screaming when they got announced. asserted
they → excite → ?
Download The California Post App, follow us on social, and subscribe to our newsletters California Post News: Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, YouTube, WhatsApp, LinkedIn California Post Sports Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, X California Post Opinion California Post Newsletters: Sign up here! California Post App: Download here! Home delivery: Sign up here! Page Six Hollywood: Sign up here! asserted
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