Atlanta Dream Facing Brittney Griner Decision Before Valkyries Game
10-time WNBA All-Star Brittney Griner is in her first season with the Atlanta Dream. Spending 11 seasons with the Phoenix Mercury, where she won a WNBA championship in 2014 and took home two Defensive Player of the Year trophies, Griner has begun a new chapter in Atlanta.
In her 11 seasons with the Mercury, Griner started all 315 games she appeared in. Playing 47 postseason games, the two-time scoring champion has also started each one of those.
Making an adjustment against her former team earlier this week, Griner came off the bench in Atlanta’s 74-66 win over the Mercury on Sunday. Returning from a neck injury that cost her three games, Griner was brought off the bench by Atlanta in an effort to effectively manage her minutes (via Aya Abdeen of Ballislife).
In her first career appearance as a reserve, Griner scored two points and pulled down two rebounds in 13 minutes of action. She has remained in a bench role for each of Atlanta’s last two games, averaging 7.7 points in 15.6 minutes in her three appearances since returning from injury.
Despite playing just over 15 minutes in Atlanta’s 80-78 loss to the Seattle Storm on Friday, Griner finished second on the team in made field goals with five (on just eight attempts).
With the six-time All-WNBA star looking more comfortable post-injury, Atlanta is faced with a decision on when to reinsert her into the starting lineup. Sunday evening against the Golden State Valkyries could make sense.
Dream Could Move Brittney Griner Into Starting Lineup Against Valkyries
Owning an 18-15 record that has been aided by a four-game winning streak, the Valkyries have been one of the WNBA’s biggest surprises in their inaugural season. One of their keys to success has been rebounding.
Pulling down 35.7 boards per game, Golden State ranks fourth in the WNBA in this category. The Dream, boosted by Griner’s 5.4 rebounds per game, lead the league in that category with a 36.5 average.
If they want to keep Golden State off the glass, the Dream may want to reinsert Griner into the starting five. Even if the 34-year-old center remains on a minutes restriction, adding her back to the starting lineup could be the tone-setting move Atlanta needs against a red-hot Valkyries team.
In two appearances against Golden State this season, Griner has averaged 10.0 points and 4.0 rebounds while converting on 54.5% of her field goal attempts. As the No. 2 seed Dream look to slow down a surging Valkyries squad, starting Griner is something that should be considered.
Joey Linn is a credentialed writer covering the NBA and WNBA for On SI. Covering the LA Clippers independently in 2018, then for Fansided and 213Hoops from 2019-2021, Joey joined On SI to cover the Clippers after the 2020-21 season. Graduating from Biola University in 2022 with a Communication Studies degree, Joey served as Biola's play-by-play announcer for their basketball, baseball, softball, and soccer teams. Joey's work on Biola's broadcasts and in the classroom earned him the Outstanding Communication Studies Student of the year award in 2022. Joey covers the NBA full-time, primarily serving as a Clippers beat writer.