When the WNBA All-Star starters were announced on June 25, the Atlanta Dream didn’t have any players on that list.
Fans would have to wait another week to find out if Atlanta had any representatives heading to Las Vegas.
On July 1, Dream fans were delighted to see Allisha Gray and Cheyenne Parker named as All-Star reserves. First-time selections for both of them!
Fans, however, were also shocked not to see Rhyne Howard’s name on the list of reserves. Their disappointment would be lifted on July 11, as Howard was named as the injury replacement for Mystics‘ All-Star forward Elena Delle Donne, who is out for two weeks with a sprained left ankle and cannot compete in the All-Star game.
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All-Stars in the A
Allisha Gray, one of the newest members of the team, has had one of the biggest impacts on the team. Since arriving from Dallas, Gray has averaged career highs in points (18.3), rebounds (5.3) and assists (2.9) per game.
The Dream’s offense runs through Gray. They are at their best when she is aggressive. It opens everything up for others to get involved.
Gray has had some phenomenal individual performances over the first portion of the season. Starting with her best game came against the Connecticut Sun on June 15, she poured in 27 points and grabbed 1o rebounds, helping the Dream pull out a nail-biting overtime victory. Gray followed this up with a 25-point performance en route to a win over the Fever.
In the Dream’s bounce-back victory against the Washington Mystics on June 30, Gray had 26 points, five rebounds and four assists. She took over down the stretch, hitting difficult shots inside left and right.
Hey Ms. Parker
The biggest surprise of this Atlanta Dream season has been the dominant play of Cheyenne Parker. Much like Gray, Parker is having a career year. She is averaging a career high in points (15.4), rebounds (7.1), steals (1.4) and blocks (1.4) per game.
She is the anchor of this team. She holds down the paint every single night. She takes on the tough defensive match ups inside. If the offense gets stagnant, Atlanta can just dump the ball down low to Parker and let her play bully ball.
Parker has had some eye-popping individual performances as well.
On June 3, she went head-to-head with the reigning MVP and Defensive Player of the Year, A’ja Wilson. Although Atlanta didn’t get the win, Parker didn’t back down from the challenge. She put up 25 points and grabbed 11 boards.
Against the Connecticut Sun on June 11, Parker dropped 20 points while getting 14 rebounds and blocking two shots.
In another tough matchup against former MVP Elena Delle Donne, Parker had 23 points, eight rebounds and three blocks.
Two-for-Two for Howard
Rhyne Howard has been in the league for two years and has represented Atlanta in the All-Star game both years.
Howard is coming off a rookie season where she won the Rookie of the Year Award and was named an All-Star. She is putting up similar numbers this year but with better efficiency.
Those numbers being 18.7 points, 4.7 rebounds and 3.4 assists on 43.6% shooting from the field and 40.3% shooting from three.
She should have been an All-Star the first time around! The 23-year-old has put together some absolutely ridiculous games this year.
On July 9 against the Chicago Sky, Howard dropped 32 points, six rebounds and four steals. The Dream would win their second-straight game against Chicago 88-77.
Three games before that one was the best game of her career. Against the Los Angeles Sparks, Howard hit six three-pointers as she scored a career high 43 points! That helped the Dream secure their triumphant 112-84 victory.
Howard and the Dream have been on fire lately and look to continue their winning ways after the All-Star break. If the Atlanta Dream meet their playoff aspirations, it will be because of their three All-Stars.
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