I was fortunate to attend the franchise opener of the Golden State Valkyries (GSV), the first WNBA expansion since 2008). Given that the Valkyries are based in San Francisco, I’m able to attend the home games. I recently saw the only Chinese player currently in the WNBA, Dallas Wings’ Li Yueru at the Chase Center on July 25th. It was another epic win with the Valkyries coming from behind to defeat the Wings 86 to 76.
Li was traded to the Dallas Wings back in June. Li felt she didn’t get enough playing time with the Seattle Storm. The Wings got Li in exchange for a second-round pick in the 2026 WNBA draft and a third-round selection in 2027. She was in the starting line up against the Valkyries on the 25th and played a total of 13 minutes, scoring a 3-pointer and a free throw, for a total of 4 points.
As you can see from some of the above the video highlights and photos below, as a 6’7″ Center, Li frequently sets screens, protects the rim, and boxes out for rebounding. She wasn’t as nimble or agile as her smaller teammates or opponents, but Li definitely had an intimidating physical presence.
Li boxing out an opponent after a shot is taken:
Li looking for the rebound:
While I went to this game to see Li Yueru, the biggest draw was former UCONN and #1 WNBA draft pick Paige Bueckers. I only realized shortly after looking into who Li played for. I got to see Bueckers up close at the after the game press conference:
Bueckers had some matchups against her former teammate and friend Kaitlyn Chen. I will this write about in a future post.
