Justė Jocytė is impatient when it comes to her cat, JJ. She is a 3-year-old Russian Blue, and quite beautiful, as Jocytė explained Friday. But JJ has a mind of her own, and has grown to love the outdoors, typically enjoying spending her time in Jocytė’s old home in Lithuania in any area that is not her bedroom.
But as Jocytė returned home to Lithuania amid the WNBA’s three-week break for the women’s FIBA World Cup, she managed, finally, to control the impossible: JJ actually slept in her room.
“She did it,” Jocytė beamed, sitting inside Chase Center during Friday’s pregame shoot-around. “She did it.”
Little else, for the past six months in the Bay Area, has actually been within Jocytė’s control. The Golden State Valkyries‘ first-ever draft pick in franchise history – fifth overall in 2025 – has played sparingly in her inaugural WNBA season, despite an on-tempo game that has captivated veteran teammates behind the scenes.
“They call her, what, the Jordan of Lithuania?” 36-year-old Tiffany Hayes smiled Friday. “I don’t even know, bro. Whatever they call her over there.”
Over here, the 20-year-old Jocytė has been subject to trade rumors, has played more than 10 minutes in a game just four times on this uber-deep Valkyries squad, and will readily admit it’s been a challenge. She likes it here in the United States. But it’s different. She has been “Europe-sick” sometimes, she told the Chronicle on Friday. All while working, with Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase‘s stay-ready group, for a shot that has yet to come.
In Lithuania this month, though, Jocytė slept in her bed. And hung out with JJ. And reset. And the difference since her return, to her and her teammates, is apparent.
She “talks a lot more, now,” for one, as Nakase said before Friday’s matchup with the 16-25 Portland Fire.
“I’m much more confident,” Jocytė said, “than I was before the break.”
The Valkyries may yet need a healthy dose of that on hardwood in a final four-game sprint before the postseason, coming off the FIBA-induced break still limited with their rotation. Golden State’s two top scorers, Gabby Williams and Janelle Salaün, missed Friday’s matchup with the Fire for rest purposes, after playing for France in the World Cup. So, too, did key starter Cecilia Zandalasini, who played for Italy.
That could well leave a boatload of minutes free – at last – for Jocytė, who played a career-high 21 minutes in the Valkyries’ final game before the break Aug. 30 with Williams, Salaun and Zandalasini all out in advance of the tournament.
“Now that you do have minutes, you gotta empty that tank,” Nakase said pregame Friday, speaking about Golden State’s at-large stay-ready group. “So sometimes maybe their three-minute stint might turn into five, six, seven. You gotta do it. And it’s not as easy as you guys think. It’s like asking you to run a mile, and then asking you to run five more miles.
“So it’s a challenge,” she continued, “but I know she’s ready.”
Unless she sets Ballhalla ablaze, this final stretch for Jocytė will likely serve as a prove-it preview come 2027. Golden State’s rotation goes deep, leaving the first-round rookie on the outskirts all season. Hayes, for one, has served as a verbal mentor.
“I told her that I commend her for being how she is,” Hayes said, amid wider praise for the young Jocytė as a teammate. “And I’m like, you’re young. Obviously, you’re a great player … her time is gonna come.”
“It’s just, I mean, who’s to say when that time is?”
It could well be now, in this bite-sized stretch before Golden State gears up for a potential October run.
“People have seen the flashes,” Valkyries forward Kaila Charles said before Friday’s game. “But she has so much more than she can show.”
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This article originally published at Why Valkyries rookie Justė Jocytė feels ‘much more confident’ after FIBA break.
