Brittney Griner Gets Honest on Atlanta Dream's Championship Chances

The Atlanta Dream will likely face off against the Indiana Fever in the first round of the playoffs.

Atlanta Dream center Brittney Griner (42) in action against the Los Angeles Sparks in the first quarter at Gateway Center Arena at College Park. / Brett Davis-Imagn Images

The playoffs are just around the corner for the Atlanta Dream and they're posed to make a deep run.

2025 has been a resurgent year for Atlanta. After an underwhelming 15-25 finish in 2024, the Dream have risen to the top of the WNBA with the second-best record in the league.

The Dream will be fighting for their first championship in franchise history, but they have a long road to get there. As well as the regular season has gone, anything can happen in the playoffs. With such relatively few games to decide a team's fate, every piece of a team needs to be at their best to guarantee success.

Atlanta Dream guard Rhyne Howard (10), guard Allisha Gray (15), and forward Brionna Jones (24), forward Naz Hillmon (00), center Brittney Griner (42), and guard Maya Caldwell (33) laugh on the bench during the final minutes against the Golden State Valkyries in the fourth quarter at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: David Gonzales-Imagn Images / David Gonzales-Imagn Images

The Dream Have a Deep Roster

The Dream have a handful of exceptional players on their roster that have led them to success, but the offseason addition of one superstar in Brittney Griner lends the Dream a WNBA veteran who knows what it takes to take a deep run at the championship.

“Everybody's ready. When you get into the Finals, you get in the playoffs, it's always that extra player that you're not thinking of, that someone's not thinking about, or somebody from the bench that needs to come in and step up," Griner said. "It's always that sixth or seventh player, and I think we have that, honestly."

Griner touches on a crucial component to postseason success. In the playoffs, it can't just be the stars that show up. In crunch time, it's often the unlikeliest of players that can show up and decide a game. The teams with the deepest rosters can have the most success and find themselves outlasting their opponents when it matters most.

Griner's Confidence in Her Coach and Her Team

The head coach leading the team is just as important as the players on the court, especially when it comes to the razor's edge of playoff success.

Fortunately for the Dream, they have head coach Karl Smesko at the helm. Smesko has had a triumphant first season as Atlanta's head coach, evidenced by the record set after the Dream's most recent win over the Connecticut Sun, which set the record for Smesko as the most wins by a first-year head coach in WNBA history with 29.

History made.
Karl Smesko has earned his 29th win of the season — the most ever by a first-year head coach in WNBA history, surpassing Michael Cooper’s 28 wins in 2000. #COY

— Atlanta Dream PR (@ATLDreamPR) September 9, 2025

Griner has the utmost faith in the depth of her team to make it through the battle of the postseason. With Smesko coaching, the 2014 WNBA champion has even more confidence in her head coach's ability to bring out the full potential of the squad.

“From the starting five to everybody on the bench, we're ready to come in and do what we need to do, and coach has done an amazing job on challenging each and every one of us," Griner said. "Like Naz [Hillmon] said, he really focuses on getting better himself, and you can see it.”

Atlanta Dream head coach Karl Smesko reacts against the Dallas Wings during the second half at College Park Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images / Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

The playoffs are anybody's game. The Dream will likely face off against the Indiana Fever in the first round, beginning September 14. With the championship experience of Griner and the full roster of talent for Smesko to work with, it may be Atlanta's game most of all. If you ask Griner, she would say the same thing.

Related Articles

feed