Veronica Burton Enters 2026 With 44 Starts and 11.9 Points
veronica burton enters 2026 with a different kind of standing. For the first time as a new WNBA season tips off Friday night, she does not have to prove herself. After starting all 44 regular-season games in 2025, Burton is back for her second year with the Golden State Valkyries as a player they expect to follow.
Burton's 2025 surge
Burton finished 2025 with 11.9 points, 4.4 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 1.1 steals per game. She started every one of Golden State's 44 regular-season games, and that full-season role turned her from a newcomer into a guard the Valkyries can build around.
The size of that jump stands out because she became the first player in WNBA history to raise her averages by 5 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists per game from one season to the next. That production gave Golden State a clear answer at guard in its first year of real roster identity.
Golden State's expansion choice
The Valkyries selected Burton in their expansion draft after the 2024 campaign, when she spent the season with the Connecticut Sun and played 12.7 minutes per night. Before that, she was the No. 7 overall pick in the 2022 WNBA Draft by the Dallas Wings out of Northwestern.
Her path to Golden State had not been straight. Burton had limited opportunities in two seasons with Dallas before the Sun stint, but the Valkyries saw enough in the expansion draft to make her part of their first core. That bet paid off quickly once she won a starting job and held it for all 44 games.
Valkyries lean on Burton
The difference in 2026 is not subtle. Burton is no longer trying to carve out minutes or prove she belongs in the rotation; the Valkyries enter their second WNBA season wanting to take a leap, and they will follow her where she leads them.
That puts the weight on her production and her voice from the opening night of the new season. Golden State already knows what she can do across a full schedule, and Burton now begins the year with the role she earned in 2025 rather than the one she was still chasing.
