Golden State Valkyries’ Kayla Thornton kept putting in work. Now she’s an All-Star.

Golden State Valkyries forward Kayla Thornton calls the period between 2014 and 2016 the hardest years of her career. 

After ending her college career as the best women’s basketball player in the history of the University of Texas at El Paso and earning Associated Press honorable mention All-America honors her senior season, Thornton declared for the 2014 WNBA draft.

On draft night, however, she went unselected. Thornton signed a training camp contract with the Washington Mystics, but she was waived on the final day of cuts ahead of the season opener.

Thornton opted to play overseas in Puerto Rico before getting another shot with the Mystics in 2015. She would make the Mystics’ opening day roster but would be cut again, just 10 games into the season. 

Over the next year, Thornton played overseas for four different teams in three different countries. The experience of changing teams and re-adapting to new cultures weighed on Thornton – but she wouldn’t break. 

After making the Dallas Wings’ opening day roster in 2017, Thornton would never know the experience of being outside of the league again. Instead, she steadily established herself as one of the most proficient “3 and D” talents in the WNBA, reliable as a 3-point shooter and defender.

“If I didn’t go through getting cut twice or go through what I did, then I don’t think I would be who I am,” Thornton said. “I don’t think I would have the fire that I have in me now.”

The 2025 season, though, has marked a new chapter for Thornton. After winning a championship with the New York Liberty and being selected in an expansion draft by the Golden State Valkyries last December, she has showcased a new, elite level to her game that has propelled her to being one of the top players in the WNBA this season.

On Saturday, Thornton, 32, will make her first appearance as a WNBA All-Star. According to ESPN Stats and Info, she’ll be just the seventh undrafted player in WNBA history to suit up for the game and the first player to make the All-Star Game as a member of a first-year expansion team since 2006.

“She’s a cerebral player that can do a lot of things and is one of the best defensive players I think I’ve seen in our league,” said Atlanta Dream assistant coach and WNBA champion LaToya Sanders. “How she developed her game over her years has been a credit to her hard work and determination to be a great WNBA player.” 

Thornton calls being named an All-Star the second best moment of her career. The first, unsurprisingly, was a season ago when she won a WNBA championship with the Liberty. 

It was Thornton’s second year in New York after she was acquired in a three-team trade in 2023 that ended her six-season stint in Dallas. Thornton was the perfect fit on a Liberty team that was cluttered with All-Star talent. She made her mark as a defensive specialist, bringing a needed grit and energy to New York’s rotation. Thornton also provided a lift from the perimeter and in 2024 made a career-high 45 3-pointers.

Thornton’s experience in the WNBA had largely been as an integral complementary player but never as a team’s first or second option. 

Of course, there were times when she felt she wanted more for herself – after all, nobody’s hoop dream maxes out at “role player” – but Thornton’s focus, more often, was on doing what was asked of her.

“It wasn’t about me,” Thornton said. “It was about the team and what the team needed at that moment and where I was at. Whatever that needed to be, I made sure that I was my full self for that and gave that my all.”

Thornton understands that the idea of being content in a role, though the responsibilities may fall short of the player’s on-court potential, can be hard to grasp for some.  

“But I think that’s why I am who I am now,” she said. 

To understand Thornton’s line of thinking is to understand her upbringing. Her father served in the military, and her mother is a preacher. Thornton, who grew up in El Paso, Texas, was raised on the principles of faith and discipline. 

“Being from a Southern place and, you know, always saying, ‘Yes, ma’am’ and ‘Yes, sir,’ and making sure, you know, when I wake up in the morning, I make my bed up all the time,” Thornton said. “[My parents] are also God-fearing people – we grew up in the church. … I’m still growing, I’m still learning myself, but those have been, like, the keys to why I’m kind of where I am today.”

Thornton embodies what it means to take what’s given and to make the most of the current opportunity. She doesn’t look beyond, but instead she focuses on the moment, placing her energy in her work ethic and preparation – and believing that if there is a chance for something greater, it will find her. 

That opportunity has come in Golden State where, for a team that was focused on assembling a team with a defensive foundation, Thornton was the perfect building block. While Thornton’s defensive contributions have come as advertised, she also was asked to step up her game on offense. As she has her whole career, Thornton met the team’s needs.

Against the Seattle Storm on June 14, Thornton totaled 22 points and 12 rebounds, both game highs, to lead the Valkyries to their third straight win. She posted a double-double in each of those three games. Her five double-doubles this season tied her career total through her nine previous seasons. 

“I love when people show me that they want to be that person. They don’t just talk it, ” Valkyries head coach Natalie Nakase said after the June 14 win. “KT backs it up with action. When she is solid, consistent and vocal, we usually come out with a W.”

Thornton is averaging a career-high 14.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game this season.

She has worked closely with Valkyries director of player development Sidney Parsons, whom Thornton credits with having a big role in her success this season. Parsons has worked with Thornton on fine-tuning the mechanics of her shot and troubleshooting her on-court play through film breakdowns.

“With Sidney, she will watch things and really be very critical and detailed into why am I missing and why is this and that,” Thornton said. “Having her has been a blessing.”

Nakase also has praised Thornton’s leadership on the court, specifically how she “commands and demands” the team when her voice is needed. When the Valkyries got out to a slow start against the Chicago Sky on June 27, Nakase looked to Thornton to inject energy into her team. 

“It was not our greatest start, and we kinda struggled. So we leaned to KT. ‘Hey, can we hear your voice a little louder?’ Then boom, she responded,” Nakase said following the game, in which the Valkyries won 83-78. Thornton had a game-high 29 points.

Atlanta Dream guard Allisha Gray, who played with Thornton in Dallas and calls the Valkyries forward one of her best friends, said she couldn’t be happier for her former teammate’s new chapter in San Francisco.

“I think that is the perfect place for her. She’s been able to show what type of player she is,” said Gray, a 2025 All-Star Game starter. “In my eyes, she’s always been an All-Star, but to be able to go to Golden State and prove it – I’m just so happy for her.”

In addition to her on-court production, Thornton is the quintessential vibe curator, bringing energy – and most certainly laughs – to any locker room she occupies. She is equipped with a sense of humor that is effortlessly funny, and those who have played alongside her say that her joy positively impacts a team.

“Every time, no matter who’s with her, she’s always going to make you laugh no matter what,” New York Liberty forward Kennedy Burke said. “She has this spirit and this vibe about her that’s just so contagious.” 

As the Valkyries trotted out of their locker room ahead of their July 7 contest with the Atlanta Dream, they began their pregame walkout, which has become customary in the WNBA. Valkyries players step into a circle and dance as their teammates hype them up. After grooving into the circle, Thornton began to mimic hitting a bass drum – a playful nod to the popular “love the drum” scene from “Drumline,” one of her favorite movies.

“That’s who I am. I always try to bring light to my teammates. When my energy’s high, then it’s kind of like everybody else’s energy [is] high,” Thornton said.  

When she takes the floor this weekend, Thornton will be the first undrafted All-Star since Erica Wheeler in 2019. Wheeler memorably was named All-Star MVP.

Liberty point guard Jaylyn Sherrod finds inspiration in Thornton’s pro journey and breakthrough. As a player who herself went undrafted out of Colorado in 2024 and is spending her early years in the WNBA finding her footing, Sherrod has looked to Thornton as an example.

“KT showed a great deal of just will and overall strength to continue to wait for her moment and trust that her moment was going to come. She’s been in this league for a while and this is her first All-Star, so it’s all about the journey and all about staying true,” said Sherrod, who added that Thornton is like an older sister to her. “She’s really standing in her purpose and she’s standing in her journey, and that’s just amazing to see. It’s a light to be around.”

Thornton is proud that, as she’s traversed her WNBA career, she has never had to ready herself for the moment. Staying level-headed through every role she was assigned while continuing to elevate her game has allowed her to take full advantage of this opportunity with the Valkyries. 

Even after showing the league what she is capable of, there is no sense of “I told you so” that radiates from Thornton. There isn’t a need to prove people wrong or be demonstrative to those who may have believed her ceiling in the league had already been reached. For Thornton, each stop in her story has held value, and this moment wouldn’t happen without them.

“You got to go through tough moments to come out and have great moments like these,” she said.

When asked what her message would be to her younger self, fighting for the chance just to stick on a WNBA roster, the first-time All-Star said: “Stay with it and let it come to you. What’s meant for you will be for you.”