Dream pairing: How Angel Reese and her new team brought out the best in each other to reach the WNBA Finals

Reese, who could be the first star of her generation to win a WNBA title, has changed her game with the Dream

Oct 16, 2026 at 2:11 pm ET • 6 min read

Angel Reese and the Atlanta Dream currently sit just four games away from being crowned WNBA champions. It would be a franchise-first for the Dream, who joined the WNBA in 2008, and make Reese the first star of her generation to lead her team to a title. Things looked very different for both parties not so long ago.

This time last year, then-Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese was sitting at home on her couch, watching the Finals from afar after missing the postseason in her first two years in the league. About 700 miles south in Atlanta, the Dream were in soul-searching mode after the winningest regular season in Dream history ended in a postseason flameout.

Reese's two years in Chicago had been marked by phenomenal individual play on the court and a sizeable economic impact to the franchise and community, both of which were often overshadowed by poor team play, perplexing roster decisions, coaching instability and front-office mismanagement. By the end of the 2025 season, when Reese gave an ill-advised on-the-record interview to the Chicago Tribune that threw shade on teammates and leadership (and the Sky responded by suspending her for half of a game), it was clear that the two sides were no longer bringing out the best in one another.

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Meanwhile, the Dream's first year under new head coach Karl Smesko had resulted in 15 more wins than their 2024 campaign and a No. 3 seed and home-court advantage in the playoffs, but the end result was the same as it had been the two years prior: A first-round loss, this time at the hands of an injury-plagued Indiana Fever team. The Dream had All-Stars, but no superstars; they were tough, but lacked a competitive fire; they had a strong culture and core, but did not know how to harness any of that when it mattered the most. 

So, when Reese was traded from the Chicago Sky to the Atlanta Dream on April 6, the match immediately made sense. Reese needed a fresh start, a steady organization and a talented roster. The Dream needed a winner and a fighter -- not to mention one of the best rebounders and defenders in the game.

"It felt like the right situation for me, and I felt like I was able to come here and help the team in any way I could. Coaches and a GM that really believe in me was something I was really, really wanting after my first two years," Reese said in her introductory press conference.

How the Dream made Reese better

But what turned the pairing from sensible to sensational was what came next. Smesko knew that the skillset Reese came to town with would make the Dream better instantly. But she lacked in one area that Smesko is famous for valuing -- the ability to shoot from the 3-point line. Due to the condensed offseason schedule, a consequence of the late arrival of the new CBA, Smesko didn't have time to feel Reese out, ease her into his system, to see first-hand if the rumors that had always followed her about being a diva or too distracted by off-court endeavors were true. He had to decide right away how much change she could handle. And so Smesko did what he's always done -- he decided to coach Reese hard. And Reese let him.

Right away, he set out to change her shooting motion and push her to take more shots from the 3-point line. He told her that if she made one more 3-pointer every 25 shots, even that would make a difference in how teams guarded her. And then he put her under duress. There was no time for this growth to happen in private; the season would be starting in a few weeks. She was going to have to try new things, and fail at them, in front of everyone.

"It's really hard for me to not want to rush success. And Karl told me how patient I had to be with it," Reese recalled after the semifinals, when asked about her improvements from outside the arch.

Just a couple of days into training camp, in a new city on a new team with new eyes tracking her every move, the players were doing a 3-point drill when Smesko stopped practice and told Reese that she had to make two 3-pointers in a row, in front of everyone, before practice resumed. Everyone had to stop what they were doing and watch Reese try to succeed at the only part of basketball she hadn't yet mastered. 

"I was upset with him that day for sure because I didn't want to let the team down. I didn't want to feel embarrassed of how long it could have took me to make them," she said. 

"I think you have to understand -- you're at the W level, and we changed her shot, like, completely, and then we asked her to do it in games. And we talked about it," Smesko said. "We said, 'Before the All Star break, you're still going to shoot these open threes. This is how we want you to shoot it. It's not going to be a good percentage. After the All Star break, it's going to start to get better. By the time we get to the end of the season, it'll start to feel really comfortable.'

"So you had to go through all those growing pains, and do that in front of everybody. That's the reason why I had her do it in front of her teammates. You're going to have to get comfortable shooting this ball in front of people, and it's brand new to you. It's not comfortable to you."

Smesko was right about the timeline. Before the All-Star break, Reese shot 12% on 3-pointers. After All-Star break, that improved to 25%. In the playoffs? It has improved to 38.5% and been a huge reason why the Dream have not yet lost a game in this postseason.

"Now it's so easy. My confidence is through the roof," Reese said. "When I shoot them, it just feels like practice. You have those tough times, and you have those tough conversations. But it's a coach that really believes in you, and he knows he knows what's best. And I'm really thankful for him for being able to help me with my career and help me be better for the team. Because I don't think I would be in this situation and thriving as I am individually without him."

It won't be easy vs. Valks

The Dream have a tall task ahead of them this series. The Valkyries have home-court advantage, so Reese and co. will start the series on the road in San Francisco on Saturday, and the best defense in the league. But with Reese, the Dream have found their edge and are on a 10-game winning streak. During that span, they've won in blowouts and in tight games, in shootouts and in scrap-fests. And with the Dream, Reese has found the best basketball of her young career, and a place where she can showcase all of her talents and even add some to the mix. The two were a perfect fit, and have worked together to become even greater than the sum of their parts. 

"Just knowing I belong here," Reese said, when asked why she's flourished in Atlanta. "Knowing coming to Atlanta, how much I wanted to help this team and do whatever it takes, not just to get out of the first round, not to just to get out the semis, but to make it to the Finals and win a championship. And the job is not done. We're definitely happy about where we are right now, but we're not satisfied."