Tiffany Hayes is the fifth oldest player in the WNBA. She has seen the league completely transform in the 14 years since she was drafted. She’s a wise sage, a possessor of perspective and experience.
But at 37 years and 17 days old, in Game 2 of the WNBA semifinals, she was also a youthful whirling dervish. Coming off the bench for the Golden State Valkyries, Hayes was driving the lane, stealing the ball, skipping down the court, pointing at her teammates, pumping both fists. She was everything, everywhere, all at once, helping lead the Valkyries to an 83-81 victory over the Las Vegas Aces.
“Tip Hayes being Tip Hayes,” Aces coach Becky Hammon said with a weary shake of her head. “She’s a momentum type of player.”
Hammon knows. She convinced Hayes to come out of retirement in 2024 and Hayes rewarded the Aces by winning the sixth player of the year.
Now, Hayes is pushing her former team – the reigning WNBA champions – to the brink of elimination. The Valkyries have a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series and are one win from a berth in the Finals. Game 3 will be Friday in Las Vegas at 6:30 p.m.
“It felt amazing to be able to go out there and get a win with the team that I’m with now,” said Hayes. “I played with (the Aces), much respect to them. But at the end of the day I’m here. I love being here, around my teammates and my coaches and it just felt really good to know how much work we put in all season to be able to get these two wins at home.
“The job’s not done … but right now feels amazing.”
Hayes only spent one season with the Aces. At the end of it, as a free agent, she followed her assistant coach Natalie Nakase to an ambitious new expansion team.
“I remember us having a conversation about coming here, and saying, ‘Are you willing to take a leap of faith with me? Do you want to do this together?'” Nakase said. “That (first) week she was here, there was a billboard of her off the freeway. She said, ‘I’ve never had this type of acknowledgement, love and support from our community.'”
Hayes, who had just three points in Game 1, scored a team-high 21 points in 16-and-a-half electrifying minutes. She became the second player in WNBA postseason history to score 20 or more points in 16 or fewer minutes: the first was her teammate Cecilia Zandalasini, who did it last week against Dallas.
“I knew (Hayes) wasn’t going to come out and play like she did the other night,” Hammon said. “We kind of got away with one from her. …
“You can’t let her see the ball go in the hoop that easily. I thought we fouled her too much. We know she wants to get to that left hand. She was very efficient: 21 in 16 minutes. That’s too much damage. She hurt us.”
A year ago, Hayes wasn’t even able to play in the postseason, due to a lingering left knee injury. She was sidelined for the last several weeks of that season. She’d already retired once, following the 2023 season. Who knew, after 14 years in the league, what exactly she had left?
But the Valkyries signed Hayes to another one-year contract last spring. They believed in her leadership, in what she offers the younger players. She has had a legendary career, both on and off the court, fighting for social justice and change and creating a fashion brand. The Valkyries, intent on keeping what they had built together, knew they needed Hayes to be a part of it.
“Tip is incredible; I’m honestly just a huge fan,” guard Veronica Burton said. “It’s been really cool to see what she’s been able to do her entire career. The energy she shows up with every single day to practice. When you have someone like her being the example, it makes all of us want to play as hard as we possibly can. It increases our passion.
“We wouldn’t be us without her. It’s a gift to be her teammate and watch her work.”
Nakase said Hayes is constantly pushing herself to be better.
“What’s cool about Tip is she continues to develop her skill set around the rim,” Nakase said. “Sometimes it’s slower, sometimes it’s a bit quicker. She’s loving that paint. She can see the play develop. She’s studying a lot of film.
“Tip is continuously wanting to learn. She wants to get better. And that isn’t really true with people that get older. … She wants to be pushed to be better and better every single game.”
This is Hayes’ eighth postseason. She’s come close, but has yet to win a title. She is not shy about her belief that this team may be the one to do it, because of its closeness, and willingness to learn and work.
Those qualities are obvious to opponents. A’ja Wilson, before Wednesday’s game, praised the Valkyries.
“What makes them unique? I would say their cohesiveness,” Wilson said. “The way they play together. They’re really on a string. They pack the paint and they live with the results of playing hard, and that goes a long, long way.”
The Valkyries could be going a long, long way. They are one victory from a Finals berth, and a potential path straight to a championship.
Recently, Nakase revealed that Hayes told her, “We can win it this year.”
In her long, notable career, Hayes has seen almost everything the WNBA has to offer. Who are we to doubt her?
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This article originally published at Tiffany Hayes took a leap of faith for Valkyries. Now she has them one win from the Finals.
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