Kayla Thornton’s breakthrough season with the Valkyries will include being expansion Golden State’s inaugural WNBA All-Star representative later this month in Indianapolis.
The league announced Sunday morning that the veteran forward was named a reserve for the July 19 game.
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It’s the first All-Star invitation for Thornton, who is her 10th season in the WNBA.
Thornton, who went undrafted out of Texas El-Paso, was the most experienced player the Valkyries selected in the expansion draft and she has been a big reason Golden State is off to a 9-8 start heading into Monday’s game at Atlanta.
“KT is super reliable,” Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase said in a release issued by the team. “She’s built confidence through her hard work. I love when people show me that they want to be that person. They just don’t talk about it, but KT backs it up with action and that’s what I love about her. When she is consistent and vocal, we usually come out with a W.”
Thornton, who scored the first basket in franchise history, has started all 17 games for Golden State, leading the team in with 14.9 points and 7.1 rebounds per game. Both would be career-highs for Thornton. She averaged double-figures in scoring once before this season (10.4 with Dallas in 2019 and her previous high in rebounds was 5.9 per game in 2022. Thornton scored just 5.5 points per game as a defensive specialist for the title-winning New York Liberty last season.
Thornton has been at the top of opponent’s’ scouting reports for weeks. Reigning MVP A’ja Wilson told media that Thornton was unquestionably the Valkyries’ top player after Golden State routed the Aces on national television.
High-scoring Chicago guard Ariel Atkins had similarly high praise after a recent Valkyries victory over the Sky.
“She’s done nothing but get better and grow her game, and she is literally the foundational piece of what this organization is building,” Atkins said.
She is 10th in the WNBA with 1.6 steals per game, 13th in rebounds, and 21st in points. She is one of five WNBA players averaging at least 14 points, seven rebounds and 1.5 steals, along with Wilson, reigning Defensive Player of the Year Napheesa Collier, five-time All-Star Alyssa Thomas and three-time All-Star Dearica Hamby.
Making the All-Star team wasn’t something that was on Thornton’s mind when she arrived to the Bay Area, but she has credited her career year to her teammates.
“It would be a blessing to show my hard work,” Thornton told the Bay Area News Group about the possibility of making her first All-Star game. “It’s just a credit to my teammates. They’re the reason why I’m here.”
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Last month Thornton was the first Valkyries player named WNBA Western Conference Player of the week after she averaged 20.0 points, 11.5 rebounds and 1.0 assist in Week 4.
Thornton has scored in double digits in all but two of the Valkyries games, scoring 20 or more four times, and five double-doubles this year.
Thornton shined while the Valkyries had multiple players away for the EuroBasket tournament. In June, Thornton averaged 16.3 points and 7.3 rebounds while shooting 34.3% from the 3-point line.
“When you have someone that pours into us as much as she does, it goes a long way,” Valkyries point guard Veronica Burton said earlier this week. “I was fortunate to have KT as my vet in my rookie year in Dallas and her growth from then until now has been incredible to witness. She’s the anchor of our defense, she’s getting the most difficult matchup every single game. So, KT is crucial for us.”
Twelve reserves were selected by the league’s head coaches, who voted for three guards, five frontcourt players and four players at either position regardless of conference.
Indiana’s Caitlin Clark and Minnesota’s Collier will serve as team captains for the game after receiving the most fan votes. They will draft their respective rosters by selecting from the remaining eight players in the pool of starters, and then from the pool of 12 reserves. The draft will be shown live on ESPN on Tuesday at 4 p.m. (Pacific). The game All-Star Game starts at 5:30 p.m. on July 19 and will be broadcast on ABC.