Golden State Valkyries guard Kate Martin is ready for the 2025 season.
In an interview for Sue Bird and Megan Rapinoe's "A Touch More" podcast, Martin revealed to a live audience (at the Valkyries' practice facility in Oakland, California), that she has a lot of goals as she moves into the 2025 WNBA season — and she's ready to keep growing as an athlete in the league.
"My short term goals change year after year," Martin told Rapinoe and Bird. "Last year, my goal was to get drafted, and then my goal was to make the roster. And then, my goal was to stay on that team and then give it my best and be ready when my name was called."
Kate Martin says she knows she belongs in the WNBA
Martin, who attended the 2024 WNBA Draft to support her teammate Caitlin Clark, was a surprise second-round pick for the Las Vegas Aces. After her first season, she continued, her goals were "to work on specific things."
As for this season with the Valkyries, "I would say [my goal] is just to continue to be confident and know I belong," she explained. Martin added that she will "continue to work on the things" she's spent the offseason focusing on skills-wise, but "really, I think that stems from not being worried about stepping on toes."
"I'm not a rookie anymore," Martin said to cheers. "It's time to really take that jump and show, 'Hey, I'm here. This is what I bring. This is my value.'" She also wants to "continue to show that every single day through hard work and every other aspect that it takes."
Kate Martin looks forward to building the culture of Valkyries basketball
While she is focused on doing everything she can to help lead her team to some wins this season, Martin added that she doesn't want to lose "sight of all the fun." Martin also referenced teammate Tiffany Hayes, who earlier pointed out that Valkyries basketball doesn't exist yet — "so we have to set the tone right away to show what we want that to be."
Martin also spoke out in support of her former teammate's decision not to participate in a 3-point shooting contest at NBA All Star this year. Caitlin Clark's decision to wait for the WNBA's All Star is the right one, she added. "Come to the WNBA All Star," she said, a pointed comment for NBA fans and players. "We have more sponsorships, we have more opportunities [not], and it's really cool to be able to showcase all of that — but let's also showcase it at the WNBA All Star, too."