SAN FRANCISCO ― One year after heartbreak, the Atlanta Dream will play for a championship. Their pain fueled an unforgettable run to the WNBA Finals.
In September 2025, a stunned Gateway Arena fell silent after the Indiana Fever pulled off a fourth-quarter comeback, eliminating the then-No. 3 seed Dream in the playoffs. Cheers from the Fever's bench erupted and echoed through the arena after a putback basket with 7.4 seconds remaining put Indiana up by one. The Dream tried to get something going on the next play, but a bad pass led to a brutal steal, sealing the Fever's 87-85 victory.
Atlanta walked off the court to cheers from faithful fans, but the silence from Dream players and the team's staff as they walked back to the locker room was deafening.
The pain was palpable. Atlanta's collapse raised questions after one of the organization's best seasons, which included the league's second-best defense and a franchise-record 30 wins. Dream head coach Karl Smesko described the defeat as "devastating," "unfortunate" and "frustrating." But, he was already looking ahead.
"Unfortunately, there’s no more opportunities to learn from this year. Our goal this year was to win the championship," Smesko told the media. "Right now, it’s kind of deflating because we definitely were expecting that we would have the ability to advance.
"We’re here to bring a championship to the Dream. It’s gonna be delayed. It’s not gonna be denied, but right now it hurts a little bit because I had so much belief in this team.”
Dream guard Jordin Canada backed up Smesko, predicting what 2026 could look like.
“We were all bought into coach’s vision … what we wanna accomplish here. And like coach said, what’s delayed is not denied. Atlanta will be back. I guarantee that," Canada said.
More than 390 days later, the Dream are in the WNBA Finals — which tip off Saturday against the Golden State Valkyries — and on a mission to make good on their promises.
Dream's season fueled by focus
When Atlanta opened training camp in April of this year, Smesko said the expectations for his team were "sky-high" and "probably as high as they've ever been." He also deployed a motto he wanted his team to embrace: manage emotions and value possessions more.
“Those were going to be huge themes of the season and probably the thing that matters the most when you try to advance in a playoff series," Smesko said. "... That was part of our opening day message. It’s been part of the every game message. It’s what we finished with when we talk to the team every time."
Managing emotions means staying level-headed as teams go on runs in games or disrupt what the Dream want to do. It also means understanding the Dream could not rest on their laurels. Being good wasn't good enough. They had to be excellent, elite even, in multiple areas on both sides of the ball.
Valuing possessions more was a reminder to take care of the basketball. He knew the pressure and pain of ghosts past could eventually creep back as the team marched towards the playoffs, and Smesko wanted his team to be prepared.
Atlanta began the season 12-4 while integrating offseason adds like Angel Reese. The Dream also dealt with an injury to starter Brionna Jones, which forced Naz Hillmon, the 2025 Sixth Player of the Year, into the lineup. As expected, the struggles came. In late June, the Dream lost six of seven games, including five straight. Three of those losses were to the Valkyries, their opponent in this year's championship series.
"Every game has been physical, and nothing has changed. We talk about it, we try to play through it, but it's hard when only one team is allowed to play that way," Rhyne Howard said in July amid the losses. "We're doing as best we can to keep our composure. We're doing as best we can to continue to play through it. But at some point, something has to give.
"We're being tested as we have been all season. It's not just these last four games. We just have to figure out what we can continue to do to make sure that things still go our way."
After Smesko and the Dream ened the skid, they went 12-3 over the next 15 games, stacking wins. Then, forward DeWanna Bonner arrived on Aug. 27. Since Bonner's first game on Aug. 30, the Dream are 10-0. They rattled off five straight wins to end the season and secured a No. 4 seed and home-court advantage for the first two rounds of the playoffs. Bonner was crucial in the first round when the team needed a spark against the Washington Mystics. She entered the starting lineup when Allisha Gray went down with a hand injury during the semifinals against the New York Liberty.
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Jordin Canada shares how ATL's mindset of valuing possessions helped them take the overtime dub and claim Game 2 of the Semis
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Bonner's leadership, her calming presence, and, of course, her production have helped Atlanta reach the Finals for the first time since 2013. However, Bonner told her teammates they need to maintain composure and remain humble no matter what their record. The two-time WNBA champion reminded them she and the Phoenix Mercury were swept during the 2025 WNBA Finals.
"So many emotions that go into a game in the (playoffs). If you don't manage that, it can change a series in a second," Bonner told USA TODAY Sports on Thursday.
"You can't get too high. You can't get too low. If you learn how to do that, manage your emotions throughout the season, then when you get to these high-pressure situations ... you drop a game, you stay level-headed. It's a series for a reason, and you gotta figure out how you turn the page day by day. If you win one, you gotta turn the page. If you lose one, you gotta turn the page."
Dream hope intentional mindset pays off with WNBA title
At Dream practice Thursday, the team was loose as it got up shots. The smiles were abundant, as was the music. However, players are well aware of the environment — at the Chase Center, aka "Ballhalla," — they will be walking into during Game 1 of the WNBA Finals on Saturday (3:30 p.m. ET, NBC).
Golden State is the higher seed with a vaunted defense, but it has fully leaned into the underdog narrative with a proverbial chip on its shoulder. Expansion teams aren't expected to be this good this soon. The Valkyries want to prove they belong on the Finals stage.
The Dream believe they belong, too. They're hoping the preparation, and continued buy-in to the mantra, will show up when it matters most. Manage emotions and value possessions more. The phrase will be repeated numerous times as the championship series wears on as they work to erase the heartbreak and turn it to triumph.
"(There are a) lot of things that are out of (our) control that happens during the game, but being able to contain (and) control what we can control," Reese said.
"The value of one is something we've always talked about all year, and making sure that we emphasize on the little things, being intentional. Every jump ball. Every shot. Every layup. Every defensive scheme, making sure we're very intentional about everything. That's what we've been doing all week. Paying attention to their sets, our sets, personnel in the game ― a little bit of everything."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: ‘Manage emotions. Value possessions.’ The mantra behind Atlanta Dream’s Finals run
