Angel Reese and the Atlanta Dream begin the best-of-seven WNBA Finals on Saturday, October 17, at Chase Center in San Francisco, where the No. 4 seed will face the No. 2 seed Golden State Valkyries. It is the first professional championship series for Reese, who joined Atlanta in an April trade after missing the playoffs in her first two seasons with the Chicago Sky.
Atlanta is back in the Finals for the first time since 2013 after sweeping the New York Liberty in the semifinals. The Dream also beat the Washington Mystics in the first round and are 5-0 in the playoffs. Golden State went 32-12 in the regular season and swept the defending champion Las Vegas Aces. A first-time champion is guaranteed, because neither franchise has won a title.
How Angel Reese got to Atlanta
The Dream acquired Reese from Chicago on April 6, 2026, in exchange for their first-round picks in 2027 and 2028. Chicago missed the playoffs in both of her seasons there. ESPN reported that her relationship with the organization had soured after she criticized the roster late in the 2025 season.
The Associated Press reported that Dream general manager Dan Padover decided to pursue Reese after watching Atlanta lose in last year’s first round. Reese has said her main goal on arriving was to help the team win a playoff series. The AP also noted that she is the first player from the 2024 draft class, which Caitlin Clark entered as the No. 1 pick, to reach the Finals as a starter.
A record-setting regular season
Reese averaged a career-high 16.4 points and a league-high 12.1 rebounds in 43 games. She set WNBA single-season records with 521 rebounds, 206 offensive rebounds and 32 double-doubles, and grabbed a league-record 26 rebounds in an August win over the Los Angeles Sparks.
She was named the league’s Defensive Player of the Year on October 1, receiving 46 votes from a national media panel, and is the first Dream player to win the award. Atlanta finished 30-14, ranked third in the league in defensive rating (103.5) and allowed a league-low 9.5 second-chance points per game. According to the team, Atlanta gave up 7.9 fewer points per 100 possessions with Reese on the floor.
She was not the only Dream player to set marks. According to the team, guard Rhyne Howard made a league-record 134 three-pointers and tied the league record with 100 steals. Reese and Howard were both named to the All-AP Second Team.
What Reese has done in the playoffs
In the three-game semifinal sweep of New York, Reese averaged 20.7 points and 7.7 rebounds, scoring 22 in the 85-83 clincher. In Game 2, an overtime win, she scored 23 points, including six of Atlanta’s 13 in overtime. Across all five playoff games, she is averaging 18.0 points, 8.4 rebounds and 2.2 blocks.
After the series-clinching win, Reese said “the job is not done.”
She is not new to championship games. She helped LSU win the 2023 NCAA title and was on the U.S. national team that won the World Cup last month, according to the AP.
Atlanta’s health question
Guard Allisha Gray, the Dream’s top scorer, has missed the last two playoff games after hurting her left hand in Game 1 of the semifinals. She had a minor procedure and is listed as day-to-day for the Finals opener. The team has not said when the procedure took place. DeWanna Bonner scored 23 points in Game 1 against New York to help cover her absence.
The history behind the series
The Dream were swept in each of their earlier Finals appearances and have never won a Finals game. Golden State became the first expansion team to reach the Finals in its second season. Golden State coach Natalie Nakase, who worked with Reese at USA Basketball, called her a fierce competitor and said she gives up nothing on the court.
Schedule
Golden State hosts Games 1 and 2, and Atlanta hosts Games 3 and 4 at State Farm Arena. Game 1 tips off at 3:30 p.m. ET on NBC. The series follows a 2-2-1-1-1 format, with Game 7, if needed, on October 31.