2021 Atlanta Dream season
WNBA team season
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The 2021 WNBA season was the 14th season for the Atlanta Dream of the Women's National Basketball Association. The team began the season on May 14, 2021 at home against the Connecticut Sun.[1]
Head coachDarius Taylor (Interim) (since July 24)
Mike Petersen (Interim) (before July 24)
Mike Petersen (Interim) (before July 24)
ArenaGateway Center Arena
Record8–24 (.250)
Place5th (Eastern)
| 2021 Atlanta Dream season | |
|---|---|
| Head coach | Darius Taylor (Interim) (since July 24) Mike Petersen (Interim) (before July 24) |
| Arena | Gateway Center Arena |
| Results | |
| Record | 8–24 (.250) |
| Place | 5th (Eastern) |
| Playoff finish | Did not qualify |
This was the first season that the Dream will play home games at the Gateway Center Arena at College Park. In the 2019 offseason the team elected to move from State Farm Arena. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 season was played at a neutral site.[2][3]
Mike Petersen began the season as interim head coach, but stepped down on July 24 for health reasons. Darius Taylor took over as interim coach through the end of the regular season.[4]
The Dream began the season by losing their first two games, but then going on a four game winning streak. That win streak was followed by a four game losing streak. After winning their next game, the Dream were 5–6 through their first eleven games. However, the Dream could only win one more of their next eight games to go into the Olympic break with a record of 6–13. The team's struggles continued after the break as they lost seven straight games. They did manage to win two of their last five games to finish with an 8–24 record.
Transactions
WNBA draft
| Round | Pick | Player | Nationality | School/team/country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Aari McDonald |  United States |
Arizona |
| 2 | 15 | Raquel Carrera |  Spain |
Valencia Basket (Spain) |
| 3 | 27 | Lindsey Pulliam | United States |
Northwestern |
Trades and Roster Changes
| Date | Details | |
|---|---|---|
| December 9, 2020 | Exercised Team Options on Kalani Brown and Maite Cazorla[5] | |
| January 2, 2021 | Extended a Qualifying Offer to Kaela Davis, Jaylyn Agnew, and Blake Dietrick[6] | |
| February 1, 2021 | Signed Cheyenne Parker[7] | |
| February 4, 2021 | Signed Tianna Hawkins[8] | |
| February 5, 2021 | Renounced the rights to Kobi Thornton[9] | |
| February 9, 2021 | Renee Montgomery announced her Retirement[10] | |
| February 13, 2021 | Traded a 3rd round pick in the 2022 WNBA draft to the Phoenix Mercury in exchange for Yvonne Turner[11] | |
| February 21, 2021 | Signed Kaela Davis to a training-camp contract[12] | |
| Waived Mikayla Pivec and Brittany Brewer | ||
| February 22, 2021 | Signed Shatori Walker-Kimbrough[13] | |
| March 1, 2021 | Signed Odyssey Sims[14] | |
| April 17, 2021 | Signed Crystal Bradford and Mikayla Cowling to training camp contracts[15] | |
| April 18, 2021 | Signed Aari McDonald and Lindsey Pulliam[16] | |
| May 3, 2021 | Mike Petersen promoted to interim head coach after Nicki Collen leaves for Baylor[17] | |
| May 5, 2021 | Waived Yvonne Turner.[18] | |
| May 9, 2021 | Waived Kaela Davis and Lindsey Pulliam[19] | |
| May 13, 2021 | Waived Shatori Walker-Kimbrough and Mikayla Cowling[20] | |
| May 26, 2021 | Waived Kalani Brown[21] | |
| July 6, 2021 | Temporarily Suspend Chennedy Carter | |
| July 26, 2021 | Signed Candice Dupree.[22] | |
| August 14, 2021 | Cheyenne Parker moved to the Inactive List due to Pregnancy | |
| August 24, 2021 | Signed Blake Dietrick.[23] | |
Roster
| 2021 Atlanta Dream roster | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Players | Coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Depth
Schedule
Preseason
| 2021 pre-season game log | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
May: 2–0 (Home: 1–0; Road: 1–0)
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| 2021 pre-season schedule | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
- The preseason game vs. Minnesota was a scrimmage. The second half gave both teams multiple possessions and was not played like a real game.[24]
Regular season
Standings
| # | Team | W | L | PCT | GB | Conf. | Home | Road | Cup |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | x – Connecticut Sun | 26 | 6 | .813 | – | 12–3 | 15–1 | 11–5 | 9–1 |
| 2 | x – Las Vegas Aces | 24 | 8 | .750 | 2 | 11–4 | 13–3 | 11–5 | 6–4 |
| 3 | x – Minnesota Lynx | 22 | 10 | .688 | 4 | 10–5 | 13–3 | 9–7 | 7–3 |
| 4 | x – Seattle Storm | 21 | 11 | .656 | 5 | 9–6 | 11–5 | 10–6 | 8–2 |
| 5 | x – Phoenix Mercury | 19 | 13 | .594 | 7 | 6–9 | 7–9 | 12–4 | 5–5 |
| 6 | x – Chicago Sky | 16 | 16 | .500 | 10 | 10–5 | 6–10 | 10–6 | 6–4 |
| 7 | x – Dallas Wings | 14 | 18 | .438 | 12 | 7–8 | 7–9 | 7–9 | 3–7 |
| 8 | x – New York Liberty | 12 | 20 | .375 | 14 | 6–9 | 7–9 | 5–11 | 5–5 |
| 9 | e – Washington Mystics | 12 | 20 | .375 | 14 | 7–8 | 8–8 | 4–12 | 4–6 |
| 10 | e – Los Angeles Sparks | 12 | 20 | .375 | 14 | 2–13 | 8–8 | 4–12 | 1–9 |
| 11 | e – Atlanta Dream | 8 | 24 | .250 | 18 | 6–9 | 4–12 | 4–12 | 4–6 |
| 12 | e – Indiana Fever | 6 | 26 | .188 | 20 | 4–11 | 4–12 | 2–14 | 2–8 |
Notes
- (#) – League Standing
- x – Clinched playoff berth
- e – Eliminated from playoff contention
- Source: Overall standings and Commissioner's Cup Standings
Statistics
| Legend | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game | RPG | Rebounds per game |
| APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game | BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game |
| FG% | Field-goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field-goal percentage | FT% | Free-throw percentage | TO | Turnovers per game |
| PF | Fouls per game | Team leader | League leader | ||||
Regular season
Source:[25]
| Player | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Courtney Williams | 32 | 32 | 34.4 | 41.8 | 38.2 | 64.2 | 6.8 | 4.0 | 1.1 | 0.5 | 16.5 |
| Tiffany Hayes | 21 | 19 | 28.3 | 43.8 | 40.5 | 85.3 | 3.2 | 3.0 | 1.6 | 0.2 | 14.7 |
| Chennedy Carter | 11 | 11 | 25.5 | 45.5 | 11.1 | 87.5 | 1.3 | 3.3 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 14.2 |
| Crystal Bradford | 24 | 9 | 18.3 | 42.9 | 35.8 | 46.2 | 3.8 | 1.5 | 1.2 | 0.4 | 8.8 |
| Odyssey Sims | 30 | 21 | 25.1 | 37.0 | 23.2 | 72.9 | 2.5 | 3.6 | 1.2 | 0.1 | 8.7 |
| Monique Billings | 31 | 9 | 23.8 | 49.5 | 0.0 | 67.5 | 6.5 | 1.0 | 1.2 | 1.0 | 8.1 |
| Candice Dupree | 10 | 4 | 20.3 | 43.4 | 0.0 | 63.6 | 3.8 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 7.3 |
| Aari McDonald | 30 | 4 | 16.4 | 32.2 | 30.8 | 88.2 | 1.6 | 2.0 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 6.3 |
| Elizabeth Williams | 32 | 32 | 23.8 | 51.6 | 0.0 | 50.9 | 4.9 | 1.2 | 1.1 | 1.3 | 5.8 |
| Tianna Hawkins | 28 | 8 | 15.5 | 39.7 | 24.2 | 91.3 | 3.1 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 4.9 |
| Shekinna Stricklen | 24 | 0 | 9.8 | 25.9 | 21.2 | 40.0 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 2.5 |
| Blake Dietrick | 9 | 0 | 15.7 | 29.6 | 31.3 | 0.0 | 1.6 | 1.2 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 2.3 |
Awards and honors
| Recipient | Award | Date awarded | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Courtney Williams | WNBA All-Star Selection | June 30 | [26] |
| Aari McDonald | WNBA All-Rookie Team | October 5 | [27] |