ATLANTA — Angel Reese's decision to join the Atlanta Dream was more than a fresh start. It was an alignment of goals she manifested long before she wore red and white.
Make the playoffs? Check. Landing in Atlanta nearly guaranteed it. Win Defensive Player of the Year? Done, with an All-Defensive team nod likely coming for the three-time All-Star. What about playing in the WNBA Finals? Absolutely. It was put into the universe a year before it happened.
"I manifested this. When I came to Atlanta, I knew that I was getting," Reese said on Oct. 9 after the Dream swept the New York Liberty. "This team has poured so much into me. We poured so much into each other. I posted and tweeted (on) 10/10/25 that I was manifesting the Finals and this is my moment. I'm supposed to be here. I thank God for this moment. And I'm just so thankful."
The Dream will open the best-of-seven WNBA Finals at the Golden State Valkyries on Saturday (3:30 p.m., NBC/Peacock) six months after Reese was traded to the franchise. She reportedly did not ask for the trade, but worked with her previous team, the Chicago Sky, to land in Atlanta. With her move came familiarity: a city she knew well and players she could connect with because of past relationships.
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At her introductory press conference in April, Reese said the team and city's support already felt "endless" and she would only add to the success the Dream had achieved. Before her arrival, Atlanta won a franchise-best 30 games. Still, a stunning first-round loss in the postseason left many to wonder about changes. The Dream made sure to retain their core players in free agency. Then, they added Reese.
"Bringing in somebody like Angel is special for us because she could be exactly what we are missing," Dream guard Rhyne Howard said. "Everybody else is obviously gonna do their part … to make sure that we’re all on the same page, we’re on the same train. We wanna win. We wanna win championships. We wanna do it for a long time."
Allisha Gray echoed Howard's sentiments, sharing a premonition about what Reese's first year could look like.
“I feel like with the addition of Angel being here, like (Rhyne Howard) said, I feel like she’s the piece that we need to get us over the hump. I feel like she’s a great player, and I feel like in Atlanta, she really can spread her wings and show all parts of her game," Gray added.
"We all know she’s one of the best rebounders in the league, but I feel like here in Atlanta, we’re able to show she’s more than a rebounder because Angel’s a bucket. She’ll get to show that here in Atlanta as well."
Atlanta Dream guard Rhyne Howard, center, gets in between forward Angel Reese, left, and New York Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu during the first half in Game 3 of their second-round playoff series at Barclays Center on Oct. 9 in New York.
A perfect match
During the 2026 regular season, Reese blossomed under Dream coach Karl Smesko.
The 6-foot-4 forward averaged a double-double for the third straight year, with a career-high 16.4 points, 12.1 rebounds and 2.8 assists. Her career-best 1.8 steals per game ranked third in the WNBA behind Howard (2.3) and teammate Jordin Canada (1.9).
“It's the energy. It's the mindset of being able to do the things that not a lot of people want to do," Reese said.
Reese led the league in rebounds and offensive rebounds per game (4.8), while setting WNBA single-season records in total rebounds (521), total offensive rebounds (206) and double-doubles (32). She also posted defensive win shares of 1.98, which ranked third in the league, and finished top 20 in total blocks (32). With Reese, Atlanta ranked third in the league in defensive rating (103.5) and her rebounding helped the Dream allow 9.5 second-chance points per game, the league low.
"I want somebody to say, 'Damn, Angel guarded me tonight.' It's gone be hell. It's gone be hell for 40 minutes, and I'm not gone give that up. That's work," Reese said. "You can't teach that mindset. You can't teach work. You can't teach that effort, and I think that goes and pours into the team. ... I kinda wanted to do that when I came to Atlanta and give that edge, give that mindset, give that dog, give that toughness.
"I know I can bring that every single night."
Reese's production as a player was one thing, but her infusion of energy into the Dream seemed to increase with every game. It was hard not to notice her becoming an emotional leader while coaching up players or sharing ideas with her coaching staff on the sideline. The passion was palpable and then the celebrations came, one chest bump at a time.
If one of her teammates made a clutch play that shifted the momentum, there was Reese, chest out and ready to engage with direct eye contact and words of affirmation. The former LSU product's chest bumps quickly became a Dream staple and unlocked lots of yelling, screaming and flexing from her typically introverted teammates. The shift in energy raised the Dream's positivity and celebration of one another to new heights.
“It’s fun. It gets everybody going. That’s what we love. We love when she’s feeding off that. We love to have positive plays, positive impact. You’re spreading that joy to everybody else,” Howard said.
Atlanta Dream forward Angel Reese reacts after defeating the New York Liberty in Game 3 of their second-round playoff series at Barclays Center on Oct. 9 in New York.
Peaking just in time
For the first time since 2013, Atlanta will be back on the league's championship stage. The Dream have played in the WNBA Finals three times in franchise history but have never won a game (0-9). Reese hopes to change as she's been quietly peaking throughout the playoffs. In five games, Reese has been averaging 18 points on 43.3% shooting from the field plus 8.4 rebounds, 2.2 blocks and 1.6 steals. She's also shooting 38.5% from 3-point range, a significant increase from her regular-season efficiency (19.3%)
The Dream are the only team undefeated in the playoffs after sweeping Washington and New York. Atlanta has scored the most points (92.6 per game), had the most steals (10.4 per game) and averaged the least amount of turnovers (nine per contest). It also has the best defensive rating 102.0.
Still, the Valkyries, who swept Atlanta in the regular-season series, aren't far behind. Golden State has the second-best defense in the postseason (104.1 rating), second-most rebounds per contest (37.8) and the least amount of turnovers behind Atlanta (10.3 per contest). The Valkyries are also ranked second in steals (seven per game) and made triples (10.5 per game).
It won't be an easy task to take down a team that plays with as much chemistry as the Dream do. Canada, who won two championships with the Seattle Storm, recently shared some advice with Reese about winning it all.
"It's really hard to get to the Finals, but I think the biggest thing is you can't get too high, get too low in this moment. You have to stay level and stay steady, and we have to manage our emotions," Canada said after the team punched its ticket to the title series.
"We wanna enjoy this moment. I'm very proud of getting here. It took a lot of hard work. (It) took staying together. So, (it's) being proud of getting there, but knowing that the job is not done, but we can't get too high or too low. We have to stay steady."
The average WNBA salary in 2026 is about $518,000, according to USA TODAY’s analysis of Spotrac data, but the median salary is much lower at $350,000.
