{"id":623268,"date":"2026-05-04T17:12:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T17:12:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/623268\/"},"modified":"2026-05-04T17:12:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T17:12:10","slug":"stephanie-jones-wont-give-up-on-her-wnba-dream","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/623268\/","title":{"rendered":"Stephanie Jones Won’t Give Up on Her WNBA Dream"},"content":{"rendered":"

COLLEGE PARK, Ga. \u2014 There are only 180 roster spots in the WNBA<\/a>, and Stephanie Jones is aiming for one of them.<\/p>\n

The 27-year-old veteran forward signed a training camp contract with the Atlanta Dream in mid-April, hoping to make the team\u2019s final 12-player roster alongside sister Brionna Jones.<\/p>\n

Stephanie Jones participated in shootaround during the team\u2019s practice at Gateway Arena on Saturday afternoon, a day ahead of their second preseason game, and afterward she discussed how much she\u2019s been enjoying the experience as she adjusts to the Dream under head coach Karl Smesko\u2019s leadership.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust being able to be out here with the other girls, surrounded by greatness, being able to experience that and getting to play with that, it\u2019s been fun,\u201d Jones said with a big smile.<\/p>\n

The 6-foot-2 Jones has played 23 regular-season games with the Connecticut Sun and Washington Mystics<\/a> in her WNBA career \u2014 but none since 2022. Stephanie and Brionna, 30, were teammates previously with the Sun and in college at the University of Maryland<\/a>. Brionna Jones, a 10th-year forward, is currently recovering from right knee surgery.<\/p>\n

The sisters participated in shooting drills with each other during training camp practices, and a noticeable level of confidence could be seen from Brionna during her drills Saturday. Stephanie Jones explained how their level of mutual support hasn\u2019t changed since they were younger. They still sit down together to exchange observations and goals from practice, pushing each other to perform their drills to the fullest.<\/p>\n

Stephanie Jones pinpointed consistency as key areas of focus, as she and other new Dream players acclimate to Smesko’s terminology for plays and drills.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese last few days, we\u2019ve definitely been talking about it amongst ourselves, like \u2018Hey, what\u2019s this? And what\u2019s this?\u2019 or making sure that we\u2019re on the same page. That\u2019s the biggest thing, communication,\u201d Jones said. \u201cAnd, we take a lot of notes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Stephanie<\/p>\n

Stephanie Jones, left, and Brionna Jones, seen when they were Connecticut Sun teammates in Phoenix on Sept. 11, 2021, are playing together again with the Atlanta Dream.Michael Gonzales&sol;NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Ahead of the Dream\u2019s preseason game against the Mystics on Sunday afternoon, Smesko praised Jones for her overall solid performance and coachability.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe’s just come in and really done her job really well so far. So it’ll be good to see her, you know, against Washington, and see how she does,\u201d Smesko said.<\/p>\n

When asked what she was most looking forward to in her first preseason game with the team, Jones pointed to the crowd and the energy that Dream fans brought.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast year, I got to be able to sit and watch and experience that point of view,\u201d Jones said. \u201cSo now being able to do it on the court, I\u2019m looking forward to that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jones played 20 minutes off the bench Sunday, scoring three points and grabbing six rebounds, while wearing the same No. 24 that Brionna wore for the Dream last season. She appeared to adapt to the physicality of the game, although the Mystics won, 83-72. Afterward, Smesko explained the learning curve that the team\u2019s training camp additions are facing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThree of the players that played\u00a020-plus minutes got here three days ago, and we’re asking them to execute an offense that they never ran before, until three days ago, and understand where the reads are,” Smesko said. \u201cI thought they hustled, they competed, they tried to do everything right.”<\/p>\n

The Dream don’t have another exhibition game this season, so Jones will look to impress in workouts ahead of Thursday’s roster decision deadline (5 p.m. ET). Then we’ll know whether the Joneses get to continue their sister act with the Dream.<\/p>\n

Related: Angel Reese Already Fits Right in at First Atlanta Dream Appearance<\/a><\/p>\n

Related: WNBA’s Biggest Stars: Ranking the Most Popular Players in the League<\/a><\/p>\n

Related: WNBA vs. NBA: Key Differences, Similarities Between the Leagues<\/a><\/p>\n

This story was originally published by Athlon Sports<\/a> on May 4, 2026, where it first appeared in the WNBA<\/a> section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"COLLEGE PARK, Ga. \u2014 There are only 180 roster spots in the WNBA, and Stephanie Jones is aiming…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":623269,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[3444,18417,4384,18418,99,258819,38140,14594,8253,434],"class_list":["post-623268","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-atlanta-dream","tag-brionna-jones","tag-connecticut-sun","tag-karl-smesko","tag-sports","tag-stephanie-jones","tag-the-dream","tag-training-camp","tag-washington-mystics","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/623268","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=623268"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/623268\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/623269"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=623268"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=623268"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=623268"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}