Nightmare is one word that could easily describe the Golden State Valkyries' 81-72 loss to the Phoenix Mercury, and it's not because Alyssa Thomas steamrolled the Valkyries with a historic 13 points, 12 rebounds, and 16 assists.
Golden State's veteran guard Tiffany Hayes exited the game midway through the third quarter after colliding with Kahleah Copper mid-air as both players went for the ball off a pass thrown high.
More tough injury news for Golden State: Tiffany Hayes has suffered a left knee injury and will not return to tonight’s game. She will undergo further testing, per team.
She had a hard collision with Kahleah Copper in the third quarter (seen below) pic.twitter.com/x0E7xfgl6o
— Kendra Andrews (@kendra__andrews) August 23, 2025
While initially it looked like Hayes, who's been playing with a protective mask after suffering a face injury early this season, was down on the court because of the hit she took to the face, the team later announced that Hayes suffered a left knee injury on the fall. The team ruled her out for the rest of the game and stated that Hayes will undergo further evaluation.
For a Valkyries team already plagued by injury, Hayes' mid-game exit was the last thing they needed, especially as the team hunts for one of the hotly contested final seeds in the playoffs. Aside from having lost All-Star Kayla Thornton to a season-ending knee injury, Golden State was already down Cecilia Zandalasini, who is not on the road with the team as she rehabs her calf injury back in the Bay, and Monique Billings, whose ankle injury remains a question mark after she was reevaluated today.
After the game, Veronica Burton opened the press conference by talking about seeing her teammate go down in the third quarter.
“That's our teammate, that's our family,” Burton said. “When you see someone go down, like from an emotional standpoint, that's never easy. That is the reality of sports, unfortunately, and the reality of the W right now. You hate to see injuries on either team. So it's a matter of also rallying together and leaning on each other. ”
Carla Leite's ankle injury
Hayes wasn't the only Valkyrie to exit mid-game. In the fourth quarter, a Mercury player inadvertently rolled into Valkyries rookie Carla Leite's ankle. Leite would later exit the game and the team ruled her out for the remainder of the game with an ankle injury. The team also communicated that Leite will undergo further evaluation. It was another unfortunate turn of events for both Golden State and Leite. The French guard was initially ruled questionable before the game as she was dealing with a sore foot injury.
While questions regarding Leite's injury were not asked in Nakase's post-game press conference, the Valkyries coach did not provide an update on Leite's status. Nakase did, however, talk about how she thought the officiating allowed the game to get too physical.
“I did think the game got a little bit too physical. Especially with two teams trying to fight for playoff positions,” Nakase said. “I'm just trying to keep telling the refs, just like, please, let's have healthy bodies walking out of here. That's really why I was on them today. And then, unfortunately, two players went down. So, you know, trying my best. I want to keep my players healthy.”
But Nakase later emphasized that the loss to Phoenix wasn't solely because of the officials allowing so much physicality. She pointed specifically to the Valkyries' slow start on offense.
“I thought in the first half, I didn't even know if we had a pulse out there. I was almost telling them at halftime, I don't even recognize you guys. We can't come to a game versus Phoenix, a team that's now 22-14– we can't just show up. We gotta hit, we gotta punch, we gotta throw punches in the beginning, and we only did [so] in the third and fourth quarter.”
Hope for Tiffany Hayes' availability moving forward
Hayes's status remains up in the air for Sunday's game with the Dallas Wings. But there may be some hope that her injury isn't serious. In her post-game press conference, head coach Natalie Nakase did not seem overly concerned about Hayes's left knee injury.
“Again, I shouldn't be a doctor because [Hayes] was smiling. She's smiling,” Nakase told reporters. “I'll have to wait and see from our medical [staff] to see what the situation is. She said she's good. I'm gonna go based off always that.”
When asked a follow-up about whether Hayes reaggravated the undisclosed injury that led to her being held out of the Valkyries' home game versus Phoenix from earlier this week, Nakase confirmed it was similar.
“Yeah, she said something sore or she said something with her foot. But she said she's good.”
But despite her initial optimism, Nakase made sure to emphasize that Hayes' status for the next game and beyond will be determined by the team's medical staff. Hayes' availability, as well as Leite's, will be key for Golden State moving forward as the team fell to eighth in the standings with the loss. They sit just behind the Seattle Storm and are only a half-game ahead of the Los Angeles Sparks. With critical games ahead, all eyes will be on the Valkyries' health moving forward.
