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The Bay Area’s most recent championship parade came in 2022, when Steph Curry put together his capstone season to lead the Warriors to their most surprising of titles. 

Four years isn’t quite a championship drought. But it doesn’t feel like it was just yesterday, either. 

Eventually, a team will break through and bring a trophy back to the Bay. But which one? 

A Magic Eight Ball just shook and revealed the answer: The Bay Area’s next championship parade will feature a whole lot of violet on Market Street. 

The Golden State Valkyries are only in their second season, but they already have the bones of a contender. They reached the playoffs in their inaugural year as an expansion squad and look stout again in Year 2. Head coach Natalie Nakase is instilling a championship culture, the front office and ownership have provided all the resources required to build a sustainable winner, and the roster is shaping up. 

When owner Joe Lacob told Nakase that she has five years to win a championship, he wasn’t kidding. The Valkyries won’t make him look silly.

The Valkyries have their version of Andre Iguodala in free-agent signing Gabby Williams. Veronica Burton might never be as dynamic as Paige Bueckers or Chelsea Gray, but she’s as steady a two-way floor general as anyone. Janelle Salaün is emerging and former top pick Justė Jocytė is right around the corner.

The pieces are there. All Golden State needs is a star to push the team over the top. And with Lacob’s dedication and deep pockets, that’ll happen sooner rather than later. 

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The Valkyries are far closer to a title than the Warriors, whose championship window has closed. The Giants are heading for their ninth season without a playoff berth in the past 10. The 49ers are getting older and more expensive. The San Jose Earthquakes are having a moment, but they haven’t taken home an MLS Cup since 2003. 

The only other club that can challenge the Valkyries’ claim of being closest to a title is the San Jose Sharks. They have the hardest thing to find in sports: a superstar. Macklin Celebrini is going to be the face of the league pretty soon as an undeniable scoring machine, insane competitor, and selfless teammate.

But Celebrini is only 19, and the NHL, at least at the highest level, isn’t typically a young man’s game. It took Sidney Crosby a decade before he led Pittsburgh to a Stanley Cup. Alex Ovechkin only hoisted the cup after he turned 32. 

Celebrini has a legitimate chance to end up as great as those all-time legends. But the Sharks still might need a decade to become a fully-formed contender anyway. 

The Valkyries don’t need a decade. They just need a bit more talent.