Naz Hillmon #00 of the Atlanta Dream & Danielle Robinson #3 of the Atlanta Dream high five during the game on August 6, 2023 at Gateway Center Arena in College Park, Georgia. Copyright 2023 NBAE (Photo by Adam Hagy/NBAE via Getty Images)

Atlanta Dream are sitting at fifth in the WNBA standings with a record of 15-16 with 9 more games to go in the season

SEATTLE – When Tanisha Wright took the head coaching job with the Atlanta Dream before the 2022 season, she was left to pick up the pieces of three seasons of bottom three finishes and no playoff appearances. Wright ushered in a new era of Dream basketball with help from No. 1 draft pick and 2022 WNBA Rookie of the Year, Rhyne Howard.

Building a team from scratch and building back from three losing seasons isn’t easy. The Dream weren’t able to make a playoff run in Wright’s first season despite finishing with a better record than the previous three seasons (14-22). However, Wright was able to lay the essential groundwork to prep for future seasons.

The off-season additions of Allisha Gray and Danielle Robinson, in addition to two strong draft picks in Haley Jones and Laeticia Amihere bolstered the team’s roster. With over half of the season behind them, the Atlanta Dream are in playoff contention, currently sitting fifth in the WNBA standings.

While creating a determined roster is key for success, players say that the team chemistry and culture modeled by Wright has been crucial in their season thus far.

Wright’s impressive turnaround of the Dream’s performance earned her the WNBA Coach of the Month honor for the month of July, which was celebrated in a heartfelt video from Howard and the rest of the team posted on social media. Players reflected on their admiration of Wright’s leadership and the journey that the team has been on together.

“It was super special,” Naz Hillmon said of the award announcement. “Everything that [Howard] said, I feel like all of us would repeat and really mean it, just how much Coach [Tanisha Wright] means to us and what she’s done to change this program around. We’ve been growing with her, and I feel like it’s really special. Just learning so much every single day, she never takes a day off from being able to teach us and make us get better. We knew that she definitely deserved it, so it was special.”

“I think we’ve bought into the culture and just what the coaches have put out for us and obviously, we genuinely want each other to do well, it feels like that,” Billings said. “That’s a good feeling. It just makes going to work a lot more fun and a lot easier.”

Despite a three-game losing streak on the road last weekend, the Dream has their sights set on a playoff run. They will face Chicago (12-18) and Las Vegas (27-3) on their return to Atlanta in a three-game homestand.

In their final 9 games of the season, Atlanta will meet the other teams floating around in the middle of the standings hoping to sneak into the playoffs with Dallas, Washington, and Minnesota most notably in these positions. Securing wins over these teams will be critical in ensuring Atlanta’s playoff run and while it won’t be easy, the Dream players are confident in each other and their steadfast leader to get them to their first playoff run in five seasons.