Somehow, Rhyne Howard lacked the typical amount of hype a No. 1 overall WNBA Draft pick receives entering her rookie season of 2022.
Yes, 2021 No. 1 pick Charli Collier had failed to impress the year before, and, yes, Howard was coming off an NCAA Tournament first-round upset, as her Kentucky Wildcats lost to a mid-major.
But she was (and is) such a versatile offensive weapon and so physically gifted that it should have been hard to imagine her not following in the footsteps of the No. 1 picks who have gone on to become WNBA legends.
Some mocks had her going after NaLyssa Smith, but Howard was selected first overall on draft night. (Photo by Jennifer Pottheiser) NBAE via Getty Images
Howard has to be one of the greatest college players ever, man or woman, to never make a Sweet 16.
Early on in her WNBA career, it appeared that she was destined to shake that team success curse, as her Atlanta Dream started off a surprising 7-4 her rookie year with her averaging 16.2 points and 1.5 steals over the first 11 games.
However, the Dream would finish 2022 14-22 and miss the playoffs. To this day, in addition to never making it out of the first weekend of March Madness, Howard has never won a WNBA playoff series, not even with the team that was a No. 3 seed after going 30-14 last year. She is trying to shake that ignominy, as she and the 2026 Dream are on a mission. So far, so good, as the team is 11-4 and in third place.
Meanwhile, Howard is becoming the full-fledged star she always had the potential to become, as stellar efficiency is finally showing up, elevating her to one of the best players in the entire league.
Despite her size (a 6-foot-2 guard), strength and driving ability, Howard has chosen to make more of a living shooting from beyond the arc than at the rim. This trend has increased as her WNBA career has gone on, with her attempting slightly more 2s than 3s in each of her first two seasons before taking 54 percent of her field goals from deep in her third season, a mark that has increased to over 60 percent in years four and five in 3-point-loving Dream head coach Karl Smesko’s system.
Her 34.3 percent and 35.2 percent clips from distance her first two years were solid, but 32.9 in 2024 and 32.2 in 2025 left something to be desired. Also, her overall field goal percentage was under 40 percent in each of her first four seasons, making it hard to call her a superstar.
This year, she’s shooting 37.9 percent from downtown and 50 percent on 2s for a field goal percentage of 42.5. Her previous career-bests were 35.2 percent from 3, 46.7 percent from 2 and 38.5 percent from the field overall, so this is considerable improvement. On a career-low 14.3 field goal attempts per game, she’s registering a career-high 19.1 points (up 1.6), good for 10th in the league.
She leads the league in made 3s per contest at 3.4, and with the now above-average efficiency from out there, she’s proving that she can make it work as a high-volume 3-point shooting star instead of the all-around, three-level scorer she was in college.
The biggest 2026 improvement that jumps out from Howard’s stats is her league-leading 2.9 steals per game, which is 1.1 higher than her previous career-best and the highest mark in the WNBA since 2013—it’s the 10th-highest ever!
Though I didn’t see the high volume in steals coming, I’ve been expecting Howard to become a top-five offensive weapon in the W, and an MVP candidate. I thought she’d be a three-level scorer, but her actual path isn’t completely shocking, considering the 3-ball was a big part of her game at Kentucky (2.5 makes per game at 38.2 percent for her career).
She’s finally taking the leap I expected as she enters her prime (she turned 26 in April). Gone are the doubts that she may not be a particularly good No. 1 pick. She’s well on her way to becoming one of the great ones.
Now she needs to win. Perhaps all the good vibes between her and her Dream teammates will lead to that. She has great relationships with the rest of Atlanta’s core, particularly Naz Hillmon and Allisha Gray.
The Dream’s core is tight off the court. (Photo by Adam Hagy) NBAE via Getty Images
Dream newbie Angel Reese is also developing a relationship with Howard, and in one press conference gave her the nickname “Permission,” which played off an earlier moment when Howard was upset that her media day pictures were shared by someone else before she was able to share them herself.
Now, all of the WNBA world has Permission to call Rhyne a superstar.