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WNBA Sends Message About Brittney Griner’s Teammates on Friday originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
Gateway Center Arena was electric on Friday as the Atlanta Dream prepared to host the Chicago Sky.
Riding a 6-3 start, good for second place in the Eastern Conference, the Dream arrived at the game with palpable momentum.
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Just three days earlier, Atlanta dismantled the Indiana Fever 77-58, led by a 23-point effort from Allisha Gray and solid frontcourt work from Brionna Jones (21 points, 10 rebounds).
Yet, the headline of the evening came pregame, when guards Gray and Rhyne Howard and forward Naz Hillmon stepped into the arena donning custom T‑shirts emblazoned with each other’s faces.
The WNBA shared a picture on X of the three of them arriving at the game with the caption, “Bestie goals 🥹.”
A veteran since 2017, Gray is the Dream’s leading scorer in 2025, averaging 20.4 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 1.1 steals across the first nine games of the season. She is a two-time All-Star and was the Rookie of the Year in 2017.
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Now in her third WNBA season, Howard leads the Dream in assists (5.1 APG) and steals (1.7 SPG), while also ranking second in scoring (16.0 PPG) and tied for third in rebounding (5.3 RPG). She is also a two-time All-Star and former Rookie of the Year (2022).
Hillmon, meanwhile, has carved out a role off the bench for Atlanta, averaging 6.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.8 assists through 16.3 minutes per game this season. She ended her college career at Michigan as the program’s all-time leader in rebounds (1,063) and double-doubles (52).
Atlanta Dream guards Rhyne Howard and Allisha Gray.Geoff Burke-Imagn Images
Under first‑year head coach Karl Smesko, the Dream have flipped the script following a 15-25 campaign in 2024.
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Smesko’s arrival, coupled with the high‑impact acquisitions of veteran center Brittney Griner and Jones, promised a major lift and early returns suggest it’s working.
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This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 14, 2025, where it first appeared.
