A social media post from the sister of Golden State Valkyries player Gabby Williams alleged that Las Vegas Aces staff had advance knowledge that the team's mascot's popcorn stunt was scheduled to take place in the section where visiting players' relatives and friends were seated, following the Aces' win in Game 3 on Friday.
During a timeout in Game 3 on Friday night, Bucket$, the Aces' jackrabbit mascot, moved into the stands and knocked popcorn onto a group of Valkyries fans. The team's own post on X identified that stretch of the contest as the "unlucky row."
Footage posted to TikTok captured the scene after the popcorn had already landed on the crowd; the moment of the incident itself was not recorded. A spotlight caught Bucket$ as he twirled the emptied popcorn bag above his head. Near the end of the footage, a Valkyries supporter who had popcorn tipped onto them was visible in a heated exchange with an individual wearing a white suit.
That individual was Kayla Williams, Gabby's older sister. Gabby has identified Kayla Williams — who competed at the University of Nevada at Reno — as the person who first drew her toward basketball.
Kayla Williams attended the Friday evening game alongside her daughter. The following day, after the video circulated, she posted a reply on X raising several concerns about the stunt, noting that her daughter has a corn allergy and that the child's scalp and eyes had begun to burn and itch almost immediately.
In her post on X, Kayla Williams described the incident as going beyond throwing popcorn and noted that the section had functioned as the visiting team's family and friends area since 2018. Her post included the remark, "To say they didn't know what they were doing is a choice." The Aces had not replied to several outreach attempts from a news outlet by Monday.
After the Valkyries sealed the series against the Aces, Gabby Williams used a video post to draw a parallel, describing what the team had accomplished as a lesson in how sweeps are carried out, before addressing the popcorn incident involving family members seated in the Golden State Valkyries section. She called on those involved to take responsibility for cleaning it up and stated that the backing of her supporters held genuine meaning for her.
No issues were found to be outstanding, and the remaining people seated in that row — family members and friends — were unharmed. The Valkyries advanced to the championship round.
Williams posted on Saturday that the outcome was a disappointment, while also noting that the Valkyries had reached the finals as a team in only their second year of competition. She stated that she wanted people to understand her exit reflected a competitive setback rather than a personal breakdown — a characterisation she said another person at the scene had framed unfairly. Popcorn-based stunts are a familiar fixture in professional basketball arenas, with Chicago Bulls mascot Benny the Bull among the performers known to deploy the snack as part of crowd entertainment.
Replying to a supporter, Kayla Williams noted that she had occupied those same seats at her sister's games since the Aces relocated to Las Vegas in 2018 and stated that the popcorn incident was something she had never previously witnessed.
