Kayla Thornton is again in New York, however this time she’s carrying the Valkyries’ black and purple.
The do-it-all Swiss Military Knife entered Barclays Middle on Tuesday for the primary time since successful the 2024 WNBA title with the Liberty. She’s returned to gather her championship ring that she deserves after filling in a bench position underneath Sandy Brondello for a pair seasons.
And to make the homecoming even sweeter, she’s again in New York for an prolonged time period with the Liberty and Valkyries matching up at Barclays Middle on Tuesday and Thursday night.
“I don’t miss the traffic but I miss the love here in New York. When we touched down and we were driving, just a lot of memories came back, and then just being in here,” stated Thornton, who’s now a starter for the WNBA’s latest franchise after being chosen by the workforce in December’s enlargement draft. “So New York holds like a special place in my heart. So it’s good to be back. And I don’t know why they picked to have this trip the longest, but it is what it is. But I’m enjoying being back.”
As soon as the veteran voice in New York, Thornton was pressured to transition to being the veteran chief in Golden State after being considered one of 11 gamers picked by the workforce within the enlargement draft. The transaction pressured her to a metropolis she’s by no means been to and play underneath first-time head coach Natalie Nakase, who bought employed because the workforce’s first head coach after spending three seasons as an assistant underneath Becky Hammon in Las Vegas.
Whereas her new and outdated teammates came upon about her transfer on a televised broadcast, Thornton came upon in regards to the transfer whereas abroad over the cellphone.
“I was overseas so they had called me, and they let me know, and that was pretty rough,” Thornton stated after Tuesday’s shootaround. “Of course you can’t control anything, but I’m glad that I’m at the position that I am. But it was tough because, like I said, everything that happened last year in New York, and the memories that I built, the relationships I built with each and every one of my teammates, that’s what I really had cherished, and that’s what I’m missing.”
Previous to the enlargement draft, every WNBA franchise had been required to guard six gamers who weren’t out there to be picked. The remainder of the roster was up for grabs. Thornton stated she “didn’t really know” if the Liberty’s entrance workplace would make her out there on the time. However she knew there was a great likelihood the franchise might choose her contemplating the Valkyries’ ties with the Liberty’s entrance workplace.
Present Valkyries common supervisor Ohemaa Nyanin spent 5 years with the Liberty and hung out as an assistant common supervisor underneath Jonathan Kolb. Nyanin and Kolb had been those to facilitate the 2023 three-team deal that landed Jonquel Jones from Connecticut and Thornton from Dallas.
After Golden State employed Nyanin final Might, Thornton then began to see the writing on the wall.
“Yeah, I kind of felt because when Ohemma left to GSV, there could’ve been a chance if I wasn’t [protected],” Thornton stated when requested if she had a sense Golden State would choose her. “I just kind of prepare for everything. Everything like I said… God works in mysterious ways. And, I guess it was time for me to leap here and take what I learned here and bring it to this new team.”
Thornton added that the transfer is “a blessing. Things work out in miraculous way. So I’m just honored to be on this team, with these group of girls, with this coaching staff, and doing what we do.”
Whereas feeling lucky to construct the muse of a brand new WNBA franchise, Thornton was stripped of the chance to defend the Liberty’s title, which was the primary in franchise historical past.
She didn’t get an opportunity to initially obtain the ring along with her former teammates. The 32-year-old additionally didn’t get an opportunity to be along with her 2024 teammates because the franchise raised its first championship banner to the rafters.
“I mean, it’s tough,” she stated. “Like I said, a lot of mixed emotions, but at the end of the day, I’m blessed to be where I’m at now, and, I’m going to, we’re going to build to hopefully get one of those banners in our arena.”
The chance did, although, put Thornton in a much bigger position. If she stayed with the Liberty, she projected to be a key bench piece for an additional title run. However Thornton now begins in Golden State and has career-high numbers by way of the primary three video games of the season: 12.7 factors, 6.3 rebounds and a pair of.3 steals per recreation. To date, her 30.3 minutes per recreation are the best she’s averaged since her 30.4 mark recorded in 2019 with the Wings.
“Oh, yeah, definitely,” she stated when requested if the brand new alternative permits her to showcase a deeper bag of her skillset. “I mean, it’s like, I think my role has definitely elevated. You know, what I did last year is not the same, but that’s why you work when you grow your game and then you come out here and show it.”
