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In one way or another, this was the year the Bay Area’s most prominent teams decided to take big swings.
The Warriors traded for Jimmy Butler, the Giants acquired Rafael Devers, and the 49ers committed to Brock Purdy, signing their quarterback to an extension worth up to $265 million.
The Valkyries refused to let external expectations dictate their outlook. Coach Natalie Nakase wanted to win right away, and Golden State became the first WNBA expansion team to earn a playoff berth in its inaugural season.
Even Stanford and Cal, universities where football hasn’t always been the top priority, went all in. The Cardinal hired GM Andrew Luck last December, and he brought in former teammate Tavita Pritchard to coach the program. The Bears responded by hiring former NFL head coach Ron Rivera as GM, and he hired new coach Tosh Lupoi, who already secured a big win by keeping quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele with the program.
The Standard’s beat reporters took a look back at the teams they cover. Here’s what they chose as the best moments of 2025.
San Francisco 49ers
David Lombardi: The 49ers saved their best for last — and that’s saying something, because the 2025 season was already a spectacle fit for a Hollywood script.
But the grand finale Sunday night at Levi’s Stadium against the Chicago Bears counts as one of the most entertaining moments in the 49ers’ illustrious franchise history. Quarterback Brock Purdy hybridized the greatness of Joe Montana and Steve Young to keep his team, with its injury-decimated defense leaking oil, afloat until crunch time.
And then came the closer, which was absolute cinema. The 49ers led by four points, but their defense bled yardage as the clock neared expiration. One Chicago play from the 2-yard line remained. Exhaustion, physical and mental, permeated the air at Levi’s — where more than 70,000 hearts were lodged in throats.
What happened next will be remembered for a long time — and will become immortalized if the 49ers continue their shocking run of resilience deep into January and possibly beyond. Only two defensive linemen rushed Bears QB Caleb Williams. Nine defenders dropped into coverage, and Williams fled out of the pocket. Lineman Yetur Gross-Matos then unleashed a 27-yard dash of freakish athleticism, slamming the door shut on Williams and the Bears with a pressure and hit that forced an incomplete pass and sent Levi’s into pulsation.
Yeah, that’s one way for the 49ers to usher in 2026.
Golden State Warriors
Danny Emerman: There’s nothing like the pressurized environment of a Game 7.
It tends to have a revealing quality. Is a team more bark or bite? Who shies away, and who steps up? It’s the closest exploration of what championship DNA means. It looks into the future, like when 22-year-old Amen Thompson decides to become an alpha dog. It stamps unsung heroes forever, as Buddy Hield now knows.
Friday, Dec. 19
Tuesday, Dec. 16
Friday, Dec. 12
The Warriors beat the Rockets in Game 7 of the Western Conference first round in what may have been the dynasty’s last gasp. Hield sank nine of his 11 3-pointers in a legendary shooting performance for a franchise synonymous with them. Steph Curry flirted with a triple double despite a hellacious, vicious, physical Houston defense designed to stop him. Jimmy Butler, playing on an injured pelvis, and Draymond Green filled in the gaps brilliantly.
For Houston, the West’s No. 2 seed, Jalen Green showed once and for all what most felt about him: that he’s not the engine of a true contender. Dillon Brooks, one of Golden State’s biggest nemeses over the years, melted in the moment with just eight points.
Golden State’s victory set up a semifinal series with Minnesota that will be remembered as a what-if. Curry injured his hamstring minutes into Game 1, sidelining him until there was no more chances for him to return. He watched the outgunned Warriors get eliminated in five games, ending possibly his last chance at a seventh Finals trip.
It was hard for Curry and the rest of the organization to stomach. A Game 7 loss to Houston would’ve been tougher.
San Francisco Giants
John Shea: It was supposed to serve as a springboard for the Giants’ magical run to the playoffs. Instead, it was the most memorable moment in an otherwise so-so season.
What was left of the Oracle Park sellout crowd July 8 stood and hollered as Patrick Bailey walloped a ninth-inning pitch from Philadelphia’s Jordan Romano into the unpredictability of right-center field at Oracle Park. The ball ricocheted toward center field, catching the outfielders off guard, and Bailey sprinted all the way home with the first walk-off, inside-the-park homer by a catcher since 1926.
The Giants moved nine games over .500 and five games behind the first-place Dodgers with momentum and motivation on their side. The deficit was cut another game two days later, but the Giants followed with a nasty funk that ruined their season and cost manager Bob Melvin his job.
A Gold Glove catcher, Bailey isn’t known for his bat. Or speed, for that matter. But on that night, his bat and speed provided glorious memories for Giants fans, a highlight for the ages — even if it didn’t prove to be a turning point in the season.
The three-run inside-the-parker gave the Giants a 4-3 win.
Golden State Valkyries
Jane Kenny: The first summer of the Valkyries was one long, unforgettable celebration. Night after night, Chase Center sold out and came alive as a devoted fanbase took root in real time around the WNBA’s first expansion team since 2008 — one that shattered all expectations.
The Valkyries earned an unprecedented playoff berth, became the winningest expansion franchise in WNBA history, and celebrated Natalie Nakase as Coach of the Year. But perhaps the most lasting image of the Golden State Valkyries’ debut season came in the moments after it was over.
After Cecilia Zandalasini’s elbow jumper rimmed out at the horn in Game 2 of the first round of the playoffs, and the top-seeded Minnesota Lynx escaped with a 75-74 win to advance, Golden State didn’t leave the floor. The team gathered at midcourt and stayed there. Arms wrapped, heads leaned together, just absorbing the moment while a sold-out SAP Center refused to empty. “GSV” chants rang through the arena, and fans extended an embrace like no other. The Valkyries waved to the crowd, but it didn’t feel like a goodbye.
Golden State may have captured the Bay Area and the WNBA’s attention overnight when the franchise played its very first game in May, but it proved to be far more than a fleeting sensation. That lingering standing ovation was proof — the Valkyries had built more than a team, but a culture and a fanbase destined to last.
San Jose Sharks
Kerry Crowley: The Sharks are finally on the rise again, and second-year star Macklin Celebrini has rapidly emerged as one of the best players in hockey. In early December, the 19-year-old played a pivotal role in one of the most remarkable comebacks in recent NHL history, as the Sharks turned a late 5-1 deficit in Pittsburgh into a 6-5 overtime win.
Four Sharks players — Celebrini, John Klingberg, William Eklund, and Tyler Toffoli — scored in the final 14 minutes of regulation before Klingberg delivered the game-winner less than three minutes into overtime Dec. 13. Aside from scoring once, Celebrini assisted on two of the Sharks’ goals.
The Penguins hadn’t blown a four-goal lead in the third period since March 10, 1976, according to ESPN. It also marked the fifth-latest four-goal comeback in league history.
College football
Kenny: After collecting just three wins on the season, and after suffering four straight losses in the Big Game matchup, Stanford’s emphatic 31-10 rout of Cal was a signature moment for first-year GM Andrew Luck and a restoration of pride for Cardinal fans who stormed the field to reclaim the Stanford Axe for the first time since 2020.
Stanford overcame a sputtering start with two defensive touchdowns, then turned in a dominant second half that made the rivalry game a runaway.
It was a moment of redemption, one that placed bragging rights back in Stanford’s hands. It was also a token of momentum in an in-between season under interim head coach Frank Reich as Luck spent the year laying the groundwork for the program’s future under his former Stanford teammate Tavita Pritchard.
Cal’s best moment didn’t come in the Big Game (that was quite obviously its worst), but the loss spurred important changes. Two upset wins over ranked teams in Louisville and SMU? Good stuff. But nothing has energized Berkeley quite like the one-two punch after Justin Wilcox’s dismissal: the introduction of Tosh Lupoi as head coach and the retention of star freshman quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele the very next day.