When the Atlanta Dream played their first home game at Gateway Center Arena on Saturday, May 24, against the Dallas Wings, there was an official’s timeout called with just under four minutes to go in the first quarter.
During the timeout, a video played on the in-arena screens, with the Dream players talking about the 2025 season and why they were excited.
Cut to Brittney Griner, a veteran legend in the WNBA, playing her first season in Atlanta.
“We are excited about the squad this year,” Griner said in the video. “People picked us to finish seventh. We see you. We see you.”
And the Dream and Griner, in fact, did see them and remembered that at the end of the season.
Because while the thought was that Atlanta would make the playoffs, it would be as a lower seed. Instead, they finished the season tied for the second-best record in the league, finishing as the No. 3 seed.
Make no mistake about it: they aren’t happy about the way the season ended. They were favored to beat the injury-rittled Indiana Fever in the first round of the playoffs, but lost in three games.
The goal was a championship. The goal was the WNBA Finals. The goal was to win.
They came up short with that goal, but the season was still seen as a success.
“We proved a lot of people wrong this year. A lot of people didn’t expect us to play this well and to be in the position that we were in,” said All-Star Allisha Gray.
Atlanta set a new franchise record for wins in a season, and first-year head coach Karl Smesko, who spent two-plus decades as the head coach at Florida Gulf Coast University, set a record for most wins by a first-year coach in WNBA history.
“We are the best of the best. When you mention the top teams, you have to mention Atlanta,” All-Star Rhyne Howard said. “You have to put us there because of what we’ve done and how hard we worked to get here.”
The hard work started officially at training camp, but the vibe changed when Smesko was announced as the head coach last fall. His reputation preceded him, and the players were very aware of it.
“I knew it was going to be great for me when everyone said that he likes 3s and layups,” Howard said. “Everyone knows I like 3s.”
Only four players have made 9 threes in a WNBA game…
Rhyne Howard did it TWICE on #IONWNBA this season. 🤯🤯@AtlantaDream | @howard_rhyne pic.twitter.com/FLC5cwhJN6
— WNBA on ION (@IONWNBA) October 17, 2025
There was no question that the Dream would be able to shoot 3s at a higher clip, but Smesko’s system is about more than launching threes—it’s about finding the highest percentage shot, whether it be three-point attempts or diving to the hoop for a layup.
And that’s what was lost with the offseason signings of Griner and Brionna Jones.
With an offense predicated on three-pointers and spreading the floor to get those open looks from deep or near the rim, how would the traditional bigs handle this high-volume offense?
“I didn’t know how it would translate. He was used to coaching guards all of his life, so working with post players was new to him,” said Las Vegas Aces’ wing Kierstan Bell, who played under Smesko in college. “But it’s worked and it shows the intelligence that he has and his basketball IQ.”
And work it did.
Atlanta attempted 28.4 threes per game under Smesko, up from the 19.4 they attempted per game last year. They also shot 33.7 percent from deep compared to the 30.8 percent mark from a season ago.
The biggest change under Smesko from Tanisha Wright is that a whopping 34 percent of their points came from downtown compared to 23.3 percent a season ago.
“He just lets us hoop for real. We are able to play freely, he has trust and confidence in us, and we are able to go out there and play our hardest,” said rookie Te-Hina Paopao.
To Bell’s point, the translation carried over to the bigs, too, as Griner, Jones, and Naz Hillmon all set career-highs in three-point attempts.
Earlier in the season, Griner and Jones attempted more threes, but as the season went on, the number of attempts per game dwindled down as Smesko continued to implement his system, choosing to move Griner to the bench and stagger her minutes with Jones.
It wasn’t that Griner played poorly. Not at all.
It was that Sixth Player of the Year winner, Naz Hillmon, became a different player in years’ past under Smesko.
See, entering this season, Hillmon attempted a total of six three-pointers in her previous three seasons in the league.
Under Smesko, Hillmon attempted 165 threes, shooting 32.1 percent from behind the arc.
“When I heard Coach was coming here, my first thought was that I wish I started shooting threes sooner,” Hillmon said, with a laugh. “It’s been a little bit of a learning curve for me, but it’s really just taking the open ones. I can shrug off, make or miss, but it’s being able to see what open shots are working for me.”
Hillmon became one of the breakout players of the year in the WNBA, enjoying her best season to date as a pro.
The same can be said for Gray.
The same argument can be made for Jones.
And Howard, who became the first player in WNBA history to make nine 3s in a single game.
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It’s a testament to the players, yes, but it’s also not a coincidence that it happened under Smesko.
“You see a lot of players having career highs, and adding more to their games,” Hillmon said. “It speaks volumes to the job that Smesko has done.”
@thewinsidr Naz Hillmon speaks up for Coach Karl Smesko — the media needs to recognize what he’s done for the Atlanta Dream🏀💪 (Via ItsMeghanLHall/x) #wnba #wbb #winsidr #atlantadream #nazhillmon ♬ original sound – Winsidr
Smesko, as he does, shifted the conversation and focus to the players.
“I think we had really good players. As a coaching staff, I want to give a lot of credit to them,” Smesko said. “We were committed to working together to help the players as best as possible. It’s about recognizing the talent of the players and putting them in the position to utilize those talents.”
The regular season featured those talents at a high level, but they didn’t translate over to postseason success.
Gray joked during the season that it was great seeing Atlanta’s name at the top of the standings and that she could get used to that.
It speaks volumes entering an offseason where every player but two in the WNBA who aren’t on a rookie contract will be free agents.
That includes Jordin Canada, Jones, Griner, and Gray, as well as Howard and Hillmon, who are restricted free agents.
While there’s a lot of uncertainty, the front office is hopeful that they can continue the momentum with the core of the team in place.
“Whether it was this year, last year, or four years ago, we leave every year telling every player they are a member of the Dream,” said 2025 WNBA Executive of the Year Dan Padover. “We make sure that anything they need, we are here for them. We let the offseason play out and deal with that when it comes. We feel really good about where we are. All of our players love Atlanta.”
And they do. There’s no guarantee that the group will be back together or not, but Gray, for one, has made it known that she loves Atlanta, the coach, and her teammates.
“I credit Big Wheez [Smesko] for the turnaround of the team. He did a great job this year, and we believed in it,” Gray said. “I wouldn’t pick another group to be around. I just love this team a lot. They are great people to be around.”
The whole team was upset that their season ended early. They knew the potential that they had, and they know that they lived up to it and exceeded the public’s expectations during the regular season.
Yes, the goals were laid out earlier.
Championship. WNBA Finals. Long run.
They didn’t reach those. But they did reach another pivotal goal, and that was not only bringing winning basketball back to Atlanta, but putting it on the map for the future, as well.
“I love being around this team. We all bought into the vision,” said point guard Jordin Canada. “Like coach said, ‘what is delayed is not denied.’ Atlanta will be back. I guarantee that.”