Justė Jocytė Calls Valkyries' Explanations for Limited Playing Time 'Excuses'

Justė Jocytė played 129 regular-season minutes for the Golden State Valkyries in 2026 and 5 more in the playoffs. On Monday, nine days after Golden State won the WNBA title, she told LRT, the Lithuanian public broadcaster, that the reasons she was given for that role were excuses.

Jocytė spoke to LRT after joining Lithuania’s national team camp. A day earlier, BasketNews published an interview in which Jocytė said she does not know whether she would want to come back to Golden State next year. Her answers to LRT are translated from Lithuanian.

Jocytė said more minutes might have shown the coaches she was not ready.

“At first they told me everything, and there were a lot of excuses,” Jocytė said. “They talked about physicality, getting used to things, and learning the plays. A lot of excuses I didn’t even want to hear. I was left not understanding the real reason. It happened, and you can’t change anything.”

BasketNews reported that Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase, when the subject came up at press conferences during the season, pointed to a different challenge at different times, from learning the team’s sets to trials at point guard to a lack of physicality.

Jocytė made her WNBA debut May 25 in a 97-70 win over the Connecticut Sun at Chase Center. She scored 5 points on 2-of-2 shooting in 5 minutes.

Nakase credited her coaching staff for getting Jocytė ready, according to The IX.

“She scored, I think, in five seconds,” Nakase said. “I was like, does she know the play?”

Hours before Jocytė’s second game, Nakase said she was not sure the rookie knew Golden State’s playbook, The San Francisco Standard reported in June. The Standard also reported that the Valkyries were looking to develop Jocytė as a ball handler.

Jocytė played 21 minutes in an Aug. 30 win at Portland, the last stop of a four-game road trip. Nakase’s assessment after that trip, reported by Valkyries Beat, centered on Jocytė staying in front of the ball.

“I think she’s taking a level with her defense,” Nakase explained. “Like she is doing a better job keeping the ball in front of her, being physical.”

Jocytė scored 11 points on Sept. 19 against the Seattle Storm. She went 4-of-7 from the field, including 3-of-3 from 3-point range, in 13 minutes. The team said she sustained a left leg injury in that game. For the regular season, she made 11 of her 26 3-point attempts.

From the bench, lifting teammates’ morale was probably where Jocytė contributed most, especially during the Finals.

“I wanted minutes and a role, so I would feel like part of the team,” Jocytė explained. “That summer turned out very interesting, and only in the playoffs did I come to terms with it. There’s still a lot of anger, but I came to terms with it, and somehow it was easier to accept the situation.”

Her first playoff appearance came Sept. 27, when she played 3 minutes in Golden State’s 104-80 win over the Dallas Wings in Game 1 of the first round. She made her only shot, a 3-pointer.

Her other appearance was 2 minutes in Game 3 of the Finals on Oct. 21, a 97-71 loss in Atlanta, and she finished with 1 assist. She did not play in Game 7, when Gabby Williams scored 30 points in a 68-63 win at Chase Center.

Being next to her teammates was how Jocytė wanted to help, she said in comments to LRT after Game 7.

“I feel like once the playoffs started, everything just fell into place and all my thoughts made sense,” Jocytė said. “I just had to push everything aside and wish the team all the best. That’s how it all came together. I wanted to help my teammates by being there with them.”

Europe, as Jocytė describes it, runs on all five players on the court.

“WNBA basketball is more physical and rough,” Jocytė said. “I think there, a lot of people start crying when they get contact. Of course, there’s also a lot of individual play, because their talent is playing one-on-one, and they do that well. In Europe we rely on all five players on the court and try to create advantages.”

Jocytė joined ASVEL in France in 2019 and played the 2025-26 season for Spar Girona in Spain. She is with Lithuania’s national team for EuroBasket 2027 qualifiers against Finland on Thursday and Sunday.