SAN FRANCISCO — The thing about playing against your old college teammates is that it should feel weird. You shared a huddle, a practice gym, maybe a late-night diner run. Then suddenly they’re in the other jersey and you’re trying to cross them over.
Kaitlyn Chen didn’t treat it that way. She treated it like recess.
Chen dropped 15 points off the bench for the Golden State Valkyries in their 91-80 win over the Dallas Wings, a game that featured her former UConn teammates Paige Bueckers and Azzi Fudd on the other side. But Chen said afterward she hadn’t circled this one on the calendar. No revenge arc. No score-settling narrative.
What drove her was something simpler. She just wanted to have fun.
“She has fun while she plays,” Valkyries forward Gabby Williams said. Williams had 25 points of her own, but spent part of the postgame presser talking about what Chen brings beyond the box score. “I have to have fun. I have to smile. When I’m playing alongside someone who’s celebrating her teammates and celebrating herself, that’s fun to celebrate too.”
The game didn’t start fun for Golden State. They trailed by 12 late in the first quarter. Then Chen checked in and the entire vibe shifted. From the 1:11 mark in the first quarter to the 47-second mark before halftime, the Valkyries went on a 33-10 run. Included in that was a dominant 19-0 stretch. Chen finished with a team-high plus-minus of +26 in a season-high 25 minutes. She shot 7-of-10 from the floor.
How Chen carved up Dallas
She did it the same way she always has. Chen attacked the Wings guards off the dribble, freezing them with crossovers or simply blowing past them. She got downhill over and over, forcing the Dallas defense to scramble. Coach Natalie Nakase noticed she wasn’t hesitating.
“She just kept going, kept going,” Nakase said. “I was like, ‘Kaitlyn, just be ready to rim read.’ But she sometimes took off early, sometimes took off at the last second. Her ability to finish with either hand — she’s lethal when she goes straight. She had no fear.”
Getting past your defender is one thing. Finishing over a help-side big rotating over to block your shot is another. That’s the part Chen worked on in Athletes Unlimited and during her time overseas. Hook shots. Reverses. Floaters off one foot. Sneaky finishes that don’t look like they should go in but do.
Bueckers noticed.
“She’s just confident. She affects the game in so many different ways,” Bueckers said. “Tonight it was getting downhill, getting penetration, getting to the rim. She has one of the best layup packages I’ve ever seen.”
The court is her playground
Chen isn’t the type to hype herself up. That’s why Williams did it for her in that joint press conference. But the truth is Chen is one of the hardest workers on a roster that was basically built out of hard workers. Nakase pointed to what happens before the game.
“Kaitlyn has fun because she prepares so much,” Nakase said. “The behind-the-scenes work. Reading the scout. Watching film. Holding herself at a high level. Working extremely hard every day, practice off day or game. So when she steps on the court, it’s like her playground. She knows the scout report in and out. She’s been communicating with the other point guards about what we’re going to run. When she’s prepared, you see it. That’s why she has a ton of fun.”
That same preparation is why Chen stuck with the Valkyries after they initially waived her. It’s why she’s taken a leap this season and become a key rotation piece. And it’s why she’s not going anywhere anytime soon.
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