The Golden State Valkyries have one plea for fans.
"Call in sick."
That was Veronica Burton's message to the Ballhalla faithful after the Valkyries beat the Atlanta Dream, 64-55, in Game 5 of the WNBA Finals to go up 3-2 in the series. She was one of the team's leading scorers with 13 points, eight rebounds and four blocks on Monday, Oct. 26 at the Chase Center.
Game 6 will be played on Thursday, Oct. 29 at an unusually early time of 12:30 p.m. ET. That is 9:30 a.m. PT for the Bay Area where Golden State is based.
Burton spoke to the media in a press conference with Kiah Stokes, who also had 13 points and added eight boards and three blocks of her own. The duo was asked about their message to their loyal fanbase.
"Call in sick," Burton stated. "I recommend it."
"Yeah, right like," Stokes chimed in with a fake cough. "Y’all know how to fake a cough. Didn’t we all do that?"
"Call in sick," Burton reiterated with a smile as the room erupted in laughter. "But we got the best fans in the league, so I’m sure they’ll be supporting us whatever time."
In only their second season in the league, the Valkyries have built a dedicated fanbase that sells out the Chase Center, known as Ballhalla, a spin off Valhalla, a heaven-like destination in Norse mythology. Their lilac and black team colors and merch have become favorites for fans across the country.
Golden State head coach Natalie Nakase was confident in her team's support.
“The beauty of Ballhalla, they’ll sacrifice," she said in a separate post-game press conference. "They’re gonna sacrifice. They’re gonna open that app, they’re gonna open their phone, they’re gonna watch. I have no doubt ... everybody’s gonna watch.”
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Dream fans will be facing a school and work day as well in their decision to attend the home matchup. Head coach Karl Smesko offered his thoughts.
"I’d like to see it be a national holiday for all WNBA championship games," he told the media after Game 5. "So whatever somebody can do, I hope everybody gets to see it somehow and I know that for some people, it’s not realistic. They have jobs and won’t be able to make it. So I’m disappointed for that, but I’m really hopeful that as many people can see the game as possible.”
The game was moved to the early afternoon slot because it conflicted with the Atlanta Hawks regular season game against the Cleveland Cavaliers also at State Farm Arena, which holds about 17,000 people. Before the Finals tipped off, the league announced that Games 3 and 4 of the WNBA championship series would be played at the NBA venue instead of the Dream's regular season home, 3,500-seat Gateway Center Arena. Game 6 was going to be played at Gateway until hours before tipoff on Monday.
One fan at the Chase Center for Game 5 held up a sign that said, "Move the Hawks game. Women = Prime Time."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Call in sick:' Valkyries rally fans for WNBA Finals Game 6 despite early tipoff