ATLANTA — Atlanta Dream guard Allisha Gray is having a career year, and after winning her second Eastern Conference Player of the Month award, Gray’s ascension is hard to ignore.
Her latest honor makes her the first player in Dream franchise history to win the award twice in a single season and the first Eastern Conference player since Elena Delle Donne in 2019 to win back-to-back awards to begin a single season.
The Dream earned a 6-4 record in June behind Gray’s stellar stats: 18 points, 5.6 rebounds and 3.7 assists per matchup. The former South Carolina product also shot 45 percent from the field and 41.5 percent from beyond the arc. Her best game of the month came against the Washington Mystics on June 15, where she scored a career-high 32 points plus five rebounds, four assists and three steals.
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What’s more, Gray was recently named a WNBA All-Star starter for the 2025 All-Star Game and voted as the top guard among the media and her peers. Quite simply, she’s having a breakout season, and she attributes part of her success to her offseason work. She also credited head coach Karl Smesko.
“He told me during the offseason that I’d have one of my best seasons yet,” Gray told the media on Thursday. “He saw the vision early.”
“She’s just been outstanding this season,” Smesko said of Gray. “She’s been aggressive. She’s been smart. She’s competed at both ends. It’s not just scoring. She’s getting assists. Getting steals. She’s just been one of the best players in the league all season.”
Gray’s efforts in 2025 have her in the MVP chatter next to Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier, who also has two Player of the Month awards this season. The Dream guard says that sort of chatter about her season is “pretty cool.”
“I ain’t know I was ever gonna be in those conversations,” Gray said about her year thus far. “It just shows that people [are] paying attention to my game finally.”
If people weren’t paying attention, they’re awake now.
Gray’s surge in Atlanta has been three seasons in the making. Since the team traded for her in 2023, she’s gotten better every year with the franchise, and the best part of it all: she’s thrived.
“I don’t think I’ve stopped smiling since I got to Atlanta, honestly,” she recently said, while coincidentally smiling.
“It just speaks volumes to the organization. The organization is amazing. They treat us like pros … Me being in Atlanta, that’s why I ain’t stopped smiling.”
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