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Atlanta Dream Make History With Win vs Liberty

In a complete turnaround from 2024, the Atlanta Dream set a franchise record.

Grant Mona

Aug 21, 2025; College Park, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Dream players react on the court after defeating the Minnesota Lynx at Gateway Center Arena at College Park. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images
Aug 21, 2025; College Park, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Dream players react on the court after defeating the Minnesota Lynx at Gateway Center Arena at College Park. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images / Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

A turnaround for a franchise in any professional sport begins with two things: belief and significant change.

For the Atlanta Dream, both of those happened after the 2024 season. Sure, a playoff berth as the eighth seed is seen as a success, but the young core needed depth around them to take another step.

The Turnaround

The 2024 season was a struggle, and the Dream finished 15-25. Following a sweep by the New York Liberty in the first round of the playoffs, the organization made several changes.

First was bringing in Karl Smesko, head coach of Florida Gulf Coast University. His coaching philosophy centered on flow and precision on offense and disciplined defense, which has been a major contributor to their 2025 season.

In addition to the coaching change, the front office brought in multiple key veteran players, including one of the best players in WNBA history, Britney Griner, and veteran Brionna Jones, to complement their excellent young core.

The "Dream" 2025 Season

Led by Allisha Gray and Rhyne Howard, the Dream have been one of the best teams in the WNBA. Gray has earned WNBA Eastern Conference Player of the Month honors in May and June, and leads the team in scoring, becoming one of the few MVP candidates.

With their 78-62 win over the New York Liberty on August 23rd, the Atlanta Dream set a new franchise record for regular-season victories.

The previous two records for regular-season wins for the Dream were in 2018, when they won 23 games, and 2011, when they won 20.

The WNBA expanded its regular season to a record 44 games this season, which has provided more opportunities for wins than in the 2018 season, when they played 36 games.

Nonetheless, the Dream's nine-win improvement from 2024 to 2025 so far shows significant progress for a team that had the young pieces but could never put a full season together.

Dynamic Duo

Allisha Gray and Rhyne Howard have been killing teams all season, but as of late, they are on a roll.

Gray is averaging 18.8 points per game, including 19 points against the Liberty, an impressive 27 points against the Minnesota Lynx, and 16 points against the Las Vegas Aces.

Howard, on the other hand, has been just as impressive. She is averaging 16.2 points per game, including a 21-point performance on August 15th against the Seattle Storm and 19 points against the Las Vegas Aces on August 19th.

The dynamic duo in Atlanta is going to be a very difficult out in the WNBA playoffs this season.

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Grant Mona
GRANT MONA

Grant Mona is a multimedia sports journalist based in Los Angeles, covering multiple teams. He is a co-host and producer on The Sporting Tribune Today on The BET Las Vegas, KIRN 670 in Southern California and the Hawaii Sports Radio Network. He formerly played baseball with the University of the Pacific Tigers.

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