Coming off of an enticing 2022 season, the brightest glimmer in Atlanta in nearly half a decade, the Dream went out and made a significant splash in the offseason, trading for standout Dallas Wings guard Allisha Gray. At the end of the 2022 season, Gray requested a trade out of Dallas, wanting to find a better fit after spending the first six years of her career in Texas. And as it turns out, Dream star and 2022 WNBA Rookie of the Year Rhyne Howard also wanted Gray to find a new team, too.
“I actually asked (Dream coach Tanisha Wright) to try to get her here, and so when it happened, I was super excited,” Howard tells Dime.
A native of Sandersville, Gray was ecstatic when her agent called her to say she was headed to Georgia, back in her home state and closer her family. The Gateway Center Arena in College Park, the Dream’s home arena, is a few hours away from Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, South Carolina where Gray played in college — Gamecock fans frequently make their way to watch the Dream, the closest W team to their university.
Roughly a quarter of the way through the 2023 WNBA season, Gray is putting forth a career year. She’s averaging a career-high 18 points per game without a drop in efficiency, and it would not be a surprise if Gray becomes a first-time All-Star.
“You want to be happy when you come into work, and everyday, regardless of what’s going on, the people here are amazing, positive… Coach T brings the same energy every day,” Gray says. “You don’t understand how happy I am here, I feel like a brand new person, I feel like I’m slowly coming out of my shell. It’s actually a blessing that I got traded here, it’s refreshing.”
Opportunity and space to be a more aggressive offensive player has paid dividends for Gray and the Dream as a whole — Gray dropped a career-high 27 points against the Sun in Atlanta’s overtime victory. Wright’s offense is predicated on reading and reacting. It’s less about set plays and more about triggering actions. Gray fits that perfectly, as she is a player who can make good decisions with the ball, drive hard to the rim, and shoot from anywhere on the court. She brings one of the best motors in basketball, and is a tireless and versatile defender.
“She’s growing into this role as a scorer, and she’s gonna have to keep getting a bit more comfortable in that because of what she came from and how she was utilized in Dallas,” Howard says. “We want her to be aggressive, we want her to score. Teams have to focus on both of us.”
Gray was traded to the team in January, and didn’t have a prior relationship with anyone on the Dream. Howard texted her and welcomed her to the team as soon as the trade happened, and the duo have been playing video games together since, particularly bonding over Fortnite. Gray is a big time gamer; she brought her console with her to the Tokyo Olympics, where she won a gold medal in 3×3, and can often be found live-streaming Call of Duty on her Twitch channel.
“I’d never met her in person, and the first time we ever had a conversation was actually over the gaming headset,” Gray says of Howard.
Naz Hillmon, a second-year forward on the Dream, shares an agent with Gray. They’d met at an agency dinner, but got to know each other during the Athletes Unlimited season in Dallas during the spring. Every week, captains would draft a new team and play three games together before rotating and drafting again, with players earning points on the AU leaderboard for in-game accomplishments. Hillmon and Gray played four out of the five weeks on the same team, and that was intentional.
“Naz knew to pick me with her first pick. Second pick, do what you do, but that first pick better have been me or I wouldn’t have been happy,” Gray says before laughing heartily.
“I wanted to build that chemistry together knowing that we’d be coming to Atlanta together,” Hillmon says.
She wanted to find every opportunity she could to learn Gray’s game, find how to better play off one another, and get to know her personality. As the W season has gone on, so has the blossoming friendship between the trio of Gray, Howard, and Hillmon, with Gray being given “no choice but to have fun here” upon her arrival in Atlanta. She’s been roped into TikTok dances, and fans are continually reminded about Goggles Lish, one of Gray’s nicknames due to her on-court eyewear.
They’ve embraced who she is while also bringing her personality and star-power to the forefront. Howard knew Gray was funny, but prior to the trade, she was known for being on the quieter side. As such, Howard made it a point to empower Gray to show off her personality.
“She acts like she’s quiet and she’s got this little Southern accent, but she’s a jokester,” Hillmon says. “She likes to talk trash a little bit to us, not so much on the court. She just has this little sneakiness about her, where if you’re not as close to her, she’s more reserved.”
Hillmon’s even given out a new nickname, Big Al, in recognition of how the first syllable of Gray’s first name is pronounced.
“That’s why she has two L’s!” Hillmon says with a laugh. “I found that out and was like, oh, your name is Big Al. So I’m trying to get Big Al caught on to the rest of the world. I feel like it just fits her.
Gray’s a fan of the new nickname, possibly because she’s just excited to be in Atlanta. She’s excited to be embraced by a new organization and new teammates, and excited to spread her wings as a player in a way she’s known she’s capable of. Her goals include getting that first All-Star nod and make an All-Defense team, and so far, she’s made quite the case for both.
But above all of the individual accolades, Gray has one goal in mind.
“Keep building, being able to win a championship here,” she says. “I feel that’s the key thing. Everybody wants a championship.”
The team is still young and finds itself in the second year of a rebuild. It’s not time to compete for a title quite yet. Instead, this season is about preparing to be ready for that next stage, and embracing Gray has proven to be a pivotal next step in the Dream’s, well, dreams.
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