dpGetting extended time at home is a rarity during the course of a jam-packed WNBA season.
It was welcomed by Veronica Burton. But also unwanted.
Back home in Newton, where she and her three siblings were known for their athletic conquests, wasn’t where Burton expected to be just two years after being selected seventh overall by the Dallas Wings in the 2022 WNBA Draft.
But there she was. Pouring over film, working on her jump shot and spending time with her close-knit family.
And also seeing the WNBA go on without her while she watched games from a couch.
“It was nice to be home, though. Being around people that support you, uplift you and love you, it was really refreshing to be home,” Burton said. “But also, being able to watch the WNBA on TV as I’m at home, it was, again, motivating and it was frustrating. But also a reminder to myself of what it’s like to not be in the league, and what it’s like to miss some games and watch the league pass you by.”
It’s hard to imagine now that the WNBA’s Most Improved Player from last season and the Golden State Valkyries star guard, who led the second-year franchise to the No. 2 seed and helped it win Game 1 of its first-round playoff series against the Wings on Sunday, found herself as a cast-off from a league she now captivates.
But just two days before the start of the 2024 season, Burton encountered arguably the toughest moment in an otherwise unblemished basketball career.
The Wings cut the Northwestern and Newton South product after two seasons in which the 5-foot-9 Burton played her trademark defense, but struggled to find her shot, shooting a dismal 27.5% from 3-point range. She first broke the news to her oldest sister, Kendall, a former Division 1 basketball player at Villanova. Burton said she “let me get all my feelings out and then she also poured life into me” during the phone call.
Without a basketball home, Burton packed up her bags and headed for Massachusetts. And what came with her on her journey home were the thoughts of a clouded future in the craft she spent her life cultivating.
“Any time you face that type of rejection, it’s a really hard one, it’s a hard pill to swallow,” Burton said. “And for me, it was just a tough experience overall. It’s lonely, it feels isolating and it can really lead to a lot of doubt and whether basketball is for me or not, whether the WNBA was something I wanted to pursue.
“But then on the flip side, it’s motivating. And you know your chance is going to come again. And so it’s just being prepared for the next moment you get.”
Burton, almost by design, is a competitor. Growing up, she competed against Kendall and her other older sister, Kayla, a fellow former Division 1 basketball player at Lehigh.
Burton’s brother, Austin, played college football at UCLA and Purdue. It was a sport her dad, Steve, the sports director at WBZ-TV, played at Northwestern as well as her grandfather, Ron, the first draft choice of the Boston Patriots. Burton’s mother, Ginni, was an All-American swimmer at Northwestern, too.
So, Burton didn’t remain idle. She did what she had done for years prior, and put in the work. It came in familiar places, too, spots that bore witness to her basketball stardom when it was just in its infancy.
Burton went through workouts and got up shots at the local YMCA and community center. Her former high school coach, Joe Rogers, put her through rigorous training sessions, working primarily on her shooting as she fought to get back in the WNBA.
Burton’s feelings – upset, frustrated, pissed off – didn’t ooze out of her during those workouts. Instead, the basketball court was her safe haven.
“There’s no question there was an uncertainty about what’s going on for her that she hadn’t faced before,” Rogers said. “This is someone whose career to that point had pretty much gone kind of exactly according to plan. … I got the sense that part of what she liked about the workouts was that we could just focus on that part of it.”
It took a little less than a month for Burton to make it back to the WNBA, and she didn’t have to travel far. She signed a rest-of-the-season contract with the Connecticut Sun and fit in well on a team buoyed by veterans.
Burton played 31 games as a backup guard for the Sun, and once again showcased her tenacious defense, but this time with an improved outside shot before entering another offseason filled with uncertainty.
The future took shape for Burton on Dec. 6, 2024, when the Valkyries selected her in the WNBA expansion draft. Once cast aside by the league, she was now coveted, at least by those running Golden State.
“Obviously very, very appreciative of it,” Burton said. “Anytime you get an opportunity and you’re handpicked, it’s something to feel good about. How I was going to attack the opportunity was I would say differently mentally that time. So, I was grateful for the opportunity really and I understood how big of a moment it could be.”
Burton and the Valkyries proved to be the perfect match. Burton flourished as a floor general and lockdown defender, averaging 11.9 points, 6.0 assists and 1.1 steals per game last season while playing 29.4 minutes.
The league took notice of Burton’s ascension, too. She earned the MIP award and finished ninth in MVP voting.
The 26-year-old Burton took more strides this year, averaging a career-best 12.2 points while being a highly effective distributor and continued defensive menace. Burton had a two-game stretch last month in which she compiled 20 assists and no turnovers, a first in WNBA history.
But perhaps the most telling stat about Burton is that over 88 regular-season games in two years with the Valkyries, she started every single one.
“I think they really just allowed me to be me,” said Burton, who shot a career-best 42.2% from the field this season. “I feel like I’m able to play my best basketball when I feel comfortable and when I feel I’m in a place that values me and trusts me.”
Burton is a new star on a new team, but she doesn’t carry herself as someone whose name is on the WNBA marquee.
Burton’s team-first identity helped fuel the Valkyries to a 32-12 regular-season record. In a way, Burton acts like the position she plays, a true point guard, always wanting to set up her teammates to achieve a higher goal.
“I think that’s one of the great things about her is her humility,” Rogers said. “And that’s one of the reasons she’s as good as she is.”
The humility also comes from her whirlwind experience, from being unwanted to now being in a starring role with the Valkyries.
She found a home with Golden State and she’ll spend a lot of time there – she signed a multiyear contract extension prior to this season – as a cornerstone of the franchise.
“I understand how quickly things can shift in this league,” Burton said. “So, I’ll never take it for granted.”
